Same Ianto, Different Jack
by gracefultree
Summary: When Ianto wakes up alone and naked in a cell next to Janet's, his first thought is: What did Jack promise to convince me to do *this* again?
1. Chapter 1

Same Ianto, Different Jack

By Gracefultree

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When Ianto Jones woke in the cell next to Janet the Weevil's, completely naked, his first thought was simple. _What did Jack promise to convince me to do __this__ again? _

His second thought, on the heels of the first, was just as expected. _Where the hell is he? _

The third thought, not one of his usual ones in this situation, but appropriate nonetheless, was confused. _Why did Jack leave me here while the intruder alarm is going off? Doesn't he know I'd rather face an enemy naked than be trapped down here when the Hub is under attack? _

Five minutes later, the alarm cut off and Jack sauntered down the corridor, fully dressed, with Gwen hot on his tail. They stopped in front of the stained Perspex wall holding Ianto captive.

"Funny, Jack," Ianto said, not bothering to hide his sarcasm. "Game over, now let me out."

Jack raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything. As usual, Gwen spoke more than enough for them both, giving away as much as she found out.

"He knows your name!" she exclaimed. "How come he knows your name? And why is he naked? I thought clothing could travel in the Rift, too."

"Of course I know his name, Gwen, I've been shagging him for over a year!" Ianto exclaimed, cranky that they were clothed and he wasn't. It was cold down in the cells. Although, what was that about the Rift?

Gwen turned to look at Jack with wide eyes. Her 'I can't believe that of you, Jack fucking Harkness' look that Ianto and the whole team were so familiar with. "He knows my name!" she said. "And he says he's shagging you!" Ianto heard jealousy and hurt in her voice. "What's that about, mister?" she demanded of their captain, rounding on him with her hands on her hips and fire in her eyes.

Jack shrugged, crossing his arms over his chest. "Never seen him before in my life," he said in his 'I don't give a shit' voice. He gave Ianto a thorough once-over. "Though, I have to say, looking good," he said to Ianto, in full flirt-mode, with the added salacious wink.

Ianto sighed in irritation. "If we're going to play whatever this new game is, can I at least have some clothes?" he asked.

"I'm not sure," Jack said, holding his chin as he watched Ianto. "I might prefer you this way."

"Oh, for God's sake!" Gwen shouted. "Can you be any more inappropriate?"

"Yes!" Jack and Ianto said in the same moment. Jack grinned, relaxing slightly. "Do I need to remind you who's in charge here?" he asked, his eyes still locked on Ianto.

"Jack!" Gwen hissed, pulling on his arm until they were out of sight of Ianto, though he could still hear every single word they said. Did they forget that he knew all the ins and outs of the cells and Archives so that he could position himself in the perfect spot to listen in? "Who is that man and why is he saying you've been sleeping together?"

"I already told you. I've never seen him before."

"Are you having cold feet? Is that it? Is this some way of telling me you're not really ready to –"

"Gwen, I'm fine. This is clearly something related to the Rift. We'll deal with it like we usually do, ok?"

"You are _not_ shooting him!" she ordered. "And you're not _shagging_ him, either! Not on my watch, no."

"Maybe he'd be up for a threeway," Jack offered in that half-serious, half-joking way that always infuriated Ianto and made Gwen blush when applied to the two of them. On other occasions, Ianto wasn't nearly as put out. "I don't know if you've noticed or not, but he's _hot!"_

"And he might be an alien threat," Gwen said firmly. "We don't even know if he's human."

"Never stopped me before," Jack said with his usual bluster.

"Yes, Jack, we all know about your conquests," Ianto interjected from down the hall. "Now, if you're done flirting with Gwen, I'd like some trousers, please. And a shirt. I was wearing the red one you like today. Though why you didn't just leave it in here with me like you always do is beyond me. Honestly, this is the last time I play naked hide-and-seek with you."

Jack rushed back to Ianto's cell, his eyes bright. "Naked hide-and-seek? That's brilliant! I should've thought of that." He turned back to Gwen, grinning like a loon.

"You did!" Ianto exclaimed. "Now stop playing and get me my trousers or I'm putting you on decaf again."

"Gwen, go find him some clothes," Jack ordered.

"But he could be concealing a weapon!"

"In case you hadn't noticed, I'm naked," Ianto growled. "I'm unarmed. There's nowhere to hide anything!"

"Oh, I'm not so sure of that," Jack offered, his eyes locked on Ianto's body once more. "I remember a time – "

"We don't need to hear about your adventures with the fashionista robots for the thirtieth time," Ianto interrupted. "Trousers!" he reminded them.

"Gwen, get him some clothes!" Jack barked.

"But –"

"Now!"

Reluctantly, Gwen left them alone together, then thought the better of it, walked back, grabbed Jack by the neck to pull his head down, and kissed him full on the mouth. Jack returned the kiss, deepening it to almost pornographic levels before letting her go. He laughed as he watched her ass when she walked away again.

"Sorry," he said to Ianto without a shred of sincerity to the apology. "She gets a little possessive." He paused, noting the change in Ianto's demeanor from annoyed and slightly amused to downright murderous.

"In all our time together, there has only been _one thing_ I asked of you," Ianto hissed angrily, enunciating each word carefully. "And you promised, over and over again, that you wouldn't do it. I've been very understanding, Jack. I know you don't come from Earth, and I accept that. I accept that you have a different view of sexuality than I do. I haven't complained about the men and women you bring home and fuck in our bed. I've participated in just about all the threeways you've wanted, and I'm used to the embarrassing situations you get me into. I know you're going to forget my birthday and our anniversary and everything else that's important to me. I don't care that you're a slob and can't be motivated to clean except by sex. I don't make a fuss when you pick up other people when we're out on dates, or when you leave me behind for them, as long as you come home to me later the same night. I don't even mind that you smell like you just shagged them silly, as long as you let me shower the scent off you and replace it with mine. But my one sticking point, the _one thing_ you promised you would _never_ do, was kiss or fuck Gwen Cooper. And now you've done it." Ianto turned his back on Jack, crossing his arms over his chest.

"We're done, Jack. I quit. I quit you, and I quit Torchwood. I have a file in my desk with the cover story I'd like you to give me. If you have any decency left, I'd appreciate if you'd use it."

Silence greeted Ianto. He waited. He knew Jack, and he knew his moods. He counted down for the explosion, the denial, the begging. Jack didn't really want to lose Ianto, and if he groveled enough, Ianto might reconsider. It was hard for him to say no to Jack about anything, and it was just a kiss, right? Just an almost-pornographic kiss…

"Are you done?" Jack asked, mild curiosity the only emotion in his voice. No rage, no sadness, no desperate desire to make things right because he knew he'd fucked up and didn't know what he'd done wrong, but was willing to apologize and let Ianto mete out an appropriate punishment. Nothing Ianto expected. "Because I don't know who you think you are, but we are not, and never have been, lovers. I have never made you any promises, and if staying away from Gwen is the promise you think you have from me, you'd better wake up and smell the coffee, my friend, because I'm marrying Gwen next week, and there's nothing you, or anyone else, can do about it."

Ianto turned back in shock, his mouth hanging open inelegantly. "You're – you're _marrying_ her?" he demanded. "What about Rhys?"

"Her ex-boyfriend? What about him?"

"She's supposed to marry _him_ next week! I've been helping set up the stag do, even though I'm not invited. Not that I'd go, anyway, but Jack, this is crazy!" He ran his fingers through his hair. "I just got Rhys' good-for-nothing best man out of jail! Have there been any unexplained Rift flares? Do any of the others have strange memory loss? Ask Owen. He might be a zombie, but he's still our doctor –"

He stopped when he heard the unmistakable sound of Gwen's designer boots on the hallway floor. They waited in silence for her to come over, a pile of Jack's clothing in her arms.

"I couldn't find anything else, honey," she said to Jack, standing on her toes to kiss him. He gave her his cheek in place of his lips, and she pouted. "Your stuff might be too big for him, but at least it's clothing, yeah?"

"Update from Tosh?"

"The Rift flare was clearly in this cell. Whoever this is, the Rift brought him," Gwen said. She turned to look at Ianto. "Now, go to the back of the cell so I can pass this in to you." Jack pulled out his gun to cover her.

Reluctantly, Ianto went as far away from the glass as he could, letting Gwen have the room she wanted to put the clothes in the food tray drawer. He felt like a bug under glass as they watched him dress. Once he was done, in a pair of Jack's trousers and the ugly green shirt Jack refused to get rid of, that, apparently, Gwen also disliked, he sat down on the stone slab that doubled as a bed and relaxed against the wall, watching them.

"Thank you," he said softly. Jack nodded in response.

"Gwen, please leave us," Jack asked. She made her 'I'm about to protest because nothing can happen around here without me wanting to know about it, especially if it's gossip' face, but didn't say anything and left them. Jack produced a chair and settled down to watch Ianto. "Let's start over," he suggested. "I'm Captain Jack Harkness. And you are?"

"Jones," Ianto said, forcing away the smile from his face before it could form. This clearly wasn't a time for flirting, if they all thought he came here through the Rift. For all he knew, maybe he did. Maybe this wasn't his universe? Maybe this wasn't his Jack? Ah well, best finish introducing himself. "Ianto Jones."

"Ianto Jones," Jack repeated, testing the name in his mouth. "You work for me? At Torchwood Three? What can you tell me?"

"Yes. With Owen Harper, Toshiko Sato and Gwen Cooper. You hired me in 2007 after the fall of Torchwood London, where I used to work. I stalked you to get the job, then seduced you to keep you from noticing the Cyberman I mistakenly thought was still my girlfriend. You found out and the team killed her. It," he corrected himself. "We got together for real a few months later, after Suzie Costello came back from the dead and almost killed Gwen. It's been over a year since then, counting your time away with the Doctor, in my timeline. In yours it would be closer to two years."

"Everything except you and the Cyberman matches. You know about the Year That Never Was?" Jack asked softly.

"You didn't give me details, but I've gathered from your nightmares that it was bad. You were tortured, killed over and over. We were killed in front of you."

"Not even Gwen knows about that," Jack said.

"You're marrying her and she doesn't know? How do you explain your nightmares?"

"How do I explain anything?" Jack replied with a cocky smile. "Misdirection."

Ianto sighed. "If it's all the same to you, I'd rather go back to my version of the universe. He might be an obnoxious over-sexed ass who can't keep it in his pants, but at least he's _my _over-sexed ass."

"You really don't mind all that stuff you talked about?"

"As I said, staying away from Gwen was my only requirement. You've brought home women who look and sound like her often enough that I know she's one of your types, but she, herself, was off-limits."

Jack scratched his chin. "I had to give all that up," he complained. "Gwen demanded it."

"And you think _she's_ faithful?" Ianto asked with a harsh laugh. "She slept with Owen her second month! She's gone out behind Rhys' back more times than I can count and wants me to cover it up for her."

"Do you?"

"Only because you ask me to do it."

"You must really love me," Jack commented.

"Yeah," Ianto said wistfully. "You'd never notice, though."

"No, probably not," Jack agreed. They sat in silence for a moment. "What did you do for Torchwood?"

"You once said I 'clean up after you and get you everywhere on time.' Then you said that I look good in a suit. I told you it was harassment."

"I can picture that. I'd like to see you in a suit."

Ianto shrugged.

"You seduced me for a job? To keep me from finding a Cyberman in the basement? How long did you keep it from me?"

"Four months." Ianto paused. "You were the first man I had sex with."

"Not the only one, though?"

"With your appetites? Hardly. I'd rather be in bed with you and whoever catches your eye than let you go off on your own. At least that way I can be sure you're using condoms. And before you say anything, I know you don't need them, but I do, and it's damn sexy watching you put them on…"

"I'm starting to wonder if I wouldn't be better off with you than her," Jack muttered. "Especially if you give me some freedom."

"And I'm starting to wonder if it isn't time to reign my Jack in. If you're willing to be faithful to Gwen in this universe, maybe he'd be willing to stop bringing people home."

"We live together?"

"Mostly."

"I don't know if we'll be able to get you home," Jack said. "The Rift is unpredictable."

Ianto looked away for a moment, lost in thought. He turned back decisively. "If I'm stuck, the same rule stands. No Gwen. And no one else in our bed. You can go back to theirs, but you'd have to come home to me."

"You're actually considering this!" Jack exclaimed.

"Aren't you?" Ianto countered.

"Well, of course! I don't think I have to tell you that I think you're gorgeous."

Ianto smirked.

"What are you thinking?" Jack asked warily. "Ianto?"

"Come have a taste," Ianto purred, rising to his knees and deepening his accent. "I promise you'll like it. One taste, then you have to decide between me and her."

Jack swallowed. He shifted in his chair, crossing and uncrossing his legs. "What kind of taste?"

"Anything you want, Captain," Ianto said in the same sultry voice, crawling forward on the bench. "I'll even call you 'sir' as you fuck me."

Jack's eyes dilated with desire. Ianto could tell even in the dark hall. Jack's nose twitched. He was smelling his own pheromones on the air. Ianto inhaled, getting the smallest whiff of them. His cock started rising.

"Or I could fuck you," Ianto continued, getting to his feet so Jack could see his arousal tenting his borrowed trousers. "If you're with Gwen, it's probably been a while, hasn't it? And even if she tries, there's nothing to compare it to, is there? Nothing like a throbbing cock up your ass? Hot and wild and filling you in ways no dildo ever could?" Jack lent forward, licking his lips. "I'd even forgo the condom so you could feel me coming inside you. I know how you love that."

Almost before Ianto could blink, Jack had pressed the door-release button and was in the cell with him, pushing him against a wall, kissing him desperately, like a drowning man begging for air.

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A/N: So, should I continue?


	2. Chapter 2

**Same Ianto, Different Jack**

**Chapter 2**

**by Gracefultree**

A/N: Wow! 20 reviews in two days! What a response! I'm overwhelmed with how many people want to read more of this story I thought of as a one-shot with potential. Thank you so much! Your support has encouraged me to write more, and think about an overarching plot. This will be a short chapter to introduce the next few chapters (I have the concept planned for the next 5... you'll understand when you read this chapter) and to let all of you know that I _will_ be continuing. I can't wait to see where this story takes us.

Enjoy!

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Ianto loved Jack Harkness with a ferocity that terrified the shit out of him on the rare occasions he actually bothered to think about it. And those occasions _were_ rare. Five times in a year and a half, to be precise. Five times since they met, though they'd been sleeping together for most of that time, an occurrence which usually prompted people to think about feelings. Ianto wasn't the usual person, and he spent most of his life suppressing his feelings, pretending they didn't exist, and avoiding thinking about them, so it was no surprise that he didn't spend much time analyzing his relationship with the enigmatic and dashing captain.

As he stood in an alternate universe being kissed by a New Jack Harkness, Ianto couldn't help but think about it again. This New Jack, as Ianto forced himself to think about him, kissed with a desperation and loneliness that His Jack hadn't felt in months. Not since he returned from his travels with the Doctor, broken and barely holding on, dealing with a psychotic ex that was trying to cause havoc when all he wanted to do was hide away with Ianto for as long as possible.

(Ianto had suspected, at the time, and come to believe later, that Jack returned for _him_, not the team. Despite Owen's pejorative 'part-time shag' comment, Ianto thought he understood his importance in Jack's life, and that Jack would leave off traveling with the Doctor, the man Jack had spent over a hundred years waiting for, just to look Ianto in the eyes and say he came back for him? Well, there was something there.)

Jack needed him, for whatever reason, and he was going to do everything he could to help and support him, if it was the last thing he did.

But New Jack was still _Jack_, even if he wasn't His Jack, so Ianto kissed him back and tried to give him what he could as his mind worked overtime to analyze his feelings and the situation. He knew he needed to. It wasn't every day that one was confronted with the doppelganger of one's lover, in an alternate universe where they had never met. Nor was it every day that said doppelganger was just as attracted to one as the lover in question. Ianto had to figure out what to do, and he had to figure it out _fast_. New Jack's hands were already undoing the buttons of his borrowed shirt.


	3. Chapter 3

**Same Ianto, Different Jack**

**Chapter 3**

by Gracefultree.

**.**.

A/N: Rating changed to M because of sexual situations and language. Please enjoy!

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Ianto developed a sense for detecting trouble early in his life, and had honed it working for Torchwood. He knew when he was in trouble, and today seemed to qualify. Stuck in an alternate universe with a Jack Harkness that wasn't His Jack, but was still _Jack,_ well, it had the words 'disaster' and 'train wreck' written all over it. He moaned softly as New Jack kissed along his neck.

The problem of being in an alternate universe was that a) he wasn't in his own, and b) His Jack would be frantic trying to find him. He knew His Jack felt strongly towards him, had seen the wistful looks, had heard the almost-spoken confessions late at night when they were falling asleep in either of their beds. He knew His Jack would do everything to get him back, and he was going to do whatever he could to increase the likelihood of that happening. He couldn't leave Jack alone. He'd lost too much and too many people already.

Ianto sighed, wondering if he'd be able to convince his heart that he wasn't cheating on Jack, because, well, this was Jack, too. Despite what he'd said earlier to New Jack, he hadn't slept with anyone but His Jack since the moment His Jack asked him out so tentatively in that office building after coming back from his travels with the Doctor. There were no more threeway offers from His Jack, and Ianto suspected that His Jack hadn't been with anyone else, either, though he had no proof either way and wasn't about to actually _ask_. That would expose too many of his dreams and wishes, too many of his hopes that Jack would be his and his alone.

But he also knew that Jack wasn't designed for fidelity, so how could His Jack begrudge him a night with New Jack, especially if it was a ruse to get back to His Jack? And it's not like he wasn't being forthright with New Jack. He told him that he'd seduced His Jack for his own purposes. He told him he wanted to go back to his universe and His Jack. So maybe it was ok to do this?

It was still _Jack_ he was grinding his hips (and erection) against.

He took a firm hold of New Jack's head and kissed him heatedly on the mouth, while at the same time he backed them up so that New Jack's calves bumped against the concrete 'bed.' He pushed New Jack down until he was sitting, then got on his knees before him.

"Shirts off," he barked at New Jack, even as he undid New Jack's belt, unzipped his fly. New Jack rushed to do what he said, lowering his braces and peeling his way out of his clothes. Ianto undid New Jack's boots and pulled them off, then the socks and trousers and boxers, leaving New Jack lying back on the concrete, his entire body on display for Ianto. The rush of lust that filled Ianto's veins as he looked down at his lover – no, the man with the same body that _wasn't_ his lover – surprised him. New Jack didn't know him, didn't know their relationship, and wasn't that part of why he was so attracted to His Jack? Their shared experiences?

His cock, trapped in New Jack's too big for him trousers, didn't seem to care and stood at attention.

New Jack looked at him with wanton eyes, running a hand down his chest, pausing to tweak a nipple, then over his abdomen until he reached his erection. Ianto watched for a moment, distracted by the sight of Jack's cock bobbing in his fist. He shook himself, bent to kiss New Jack with a bit of gentleness. New Jack responded eagerly, pulling Ianto down on top of him so they could rut against each other.

"You want a blow job first?" Ianto asked, deepening his accent, hoping New Jack would accept his offer. New Jack nodded enthusiastically, sitting up and spreading his legs wide for Ianto to kneel in between them.

Ianto started slowly, one hand holding New Jack's cock at the base, holding him steady, while the other stroked his inner thigh. He began licking and sucking. New Jack started cursing, a good sign. He'd eventually stop cursing and start with endearments, but Ianto privately doubted it would get that far. Ianto picked up the intensity of his ministrations, leaving off stroking New Jack's thigh to free his own cock. New Jack looked down, briefly, was reassured that Ianto was just taking care of himself, and abandoned himself to Ianto's mouth and hand, leaning back and groaning, his eyes closed so he could concentrate more fully on the sensations. Ianto smiled to himself and reached for New Jack's trousers, which were puddled on the floor.

One habit that took him almost six months to break His Jack of was losing his security swipecards. Not outside the base, mind you, but inside the Hub. It was, in part, how Ianto was able to get Lisa into the Hub so secretly. He'd had one of Jack's swipecards. His Jack would just forget and leave them around, in the greenhouse, in the armory, on the coffee or conference table, under Tosh's station, in the firing range, lost on his desk. Ianto found one in the morgue, once, after he started a daily routine of looking for them. His Jack had carried more than one at a time, just in case, and sometimes would start the day with as many as five and be asking Ianto for one by lunchtime, if he took to wandering the Hub, bored.

When he and His Jack got back together after the incident with Suzie, the second incident, Ianto decided that he wouldn't keep enabling Jack about the cards. (And other things, but the cards were the security risk, so he started there.) Every time he found one in a random place, he would calmly walk into Jack's office, shut the door and wait for his lover's attention. Once he had it, he dropped the card into the middle of the desk and informed Jack that they were not having sex for 24 hours. Jack always tried to protest, to seduce him, to get out of it, but Ianto managed to hold on, and Jack learned not to lose his swipecards.

It was interesting, Ianto noted, still rooting in New Jack's pants, that His Jack never considered going on the pull on those nights, and always spent his time trying to get Ianto to crack. Other nights, however, were something of a free-for-all, with Jack dragging Ianto to clubs to pick someone to take back to Ianto's flat with them or going off on his own, crawling into Ianto's bed in the middle of the night after a hasty shower.

He hoped that New Jack was like His Jack, and would carry more than one swipecard. He doubted Gwen would have been able to train him out of that habit. She could barely manage her own, and her desk was atrocious. At least His Jack had been willing to try to keep his desk clearer, the prospect of extra blow jobs or other sexual favors keeping him at it.

Luck was with Ianto, because New Jack had three cards in his pocket. Ianto took one, slipping it into his own pocket, then put all his concentration onto the other task at hand: getting New Jack off as quickly as possible before the rest of the team noticed what they were doing on the CCTV and came to interrupt. He decided to play dirty.

Ianto shifted, placing his palms on New Jack's inner thighs and releasing his cock from his mouth. New Jack whimpered and raised his head. As their eyes met, Ianto held the cock in both hands and sucked on the tip. He bared his teeth around the head. New Jack jerked forward, thrusting into Ianto's mouth with a ragged cry, Ianto's teeth scraping against the sensitive skin. New Jack came explosively.

_God, he tastes like My Jack,_ Ianto thought as he swallowed. He looked at the man in front of him, the sheen of sweat on his brow, the panting breaths, the excited smile.

"Wow," New Jack said. "That was _great_!"

"Wait until I fuck you," Ianto answered. "You'll see stars."


	4. Chapter 4

**Same Ianto, Different Jack**

**Chapter 4**

**by Gracefultree**

A/N: Smut warning

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New Jack lay back again, taking Ianto's arms and pulling him on top of him. They kissed, tongues tangling, breath mingling. Ianto's arousal increased. New Jack was still kissing him with desperation and loneliness and need, but it was tempered slightly by the recent orgasm. Ianto ran his fingers through New Jack's hair, enjoying the silkiness. New Jack's hands found his ass.

"So, what's this about a fuck?" New Jack asked between kisses.

"Where's the lube? The usual pocket?" Ianto asked, climbing off New Jack to search for it. He tossed his own trousers to the other corner where New Jack would have no reason to go, thus keeping the swipecard safe from his potentially distrustful eyes.

"I don't carry any," New Jack said sheepishly. Ianto looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Don't need it with Gwen," New Jack explained.

"Well, shit, we'll just have to do it the old fashioned way, won't we?" Ianto murmured in a low growl. Before New Jack knew what was going on, Ianto was kneeling beside the slab, dragging New Jack into the position he wanted him. "Hold your legs up." New Jack complied, and Ianto began the slow process of licking and sucking and stroking with tongue and fingers that would stretch New Jack and, if he read the signals correctly, give New Jack another orgasm even before Ianto's cock touched his hole.

New Jack sank into the sensations, moaning, whipping his head back and forth, begging for more. Ianto had never seen His Jack so desperate for sex. Or, was it desperate for sex with someone other than Gwen? Or with a man? His Jack had once said that while he loved all kinds of sex, with all kinds of people and aliens, human males were a particular favorite of his. So if New Jack had been abstaining for a while, which seemed to be the case... well, Ianto sensed an opportunity for manipulation.

"How long since you've been rimmed, Jack?" Ianto asked.

"Too long!"

"Gwen -"

"Won't do it. Thinks it's disgusting," New Jack panted. "Keep going!"

Ianto smiled again and thrust his tongue in as far as it would go, twisting at the last second, burrowing, leaving a trail of saliva down New Jack's crack as he went. The sounds New Jack was making... he was clearly loving every moment of this, and Ianto determined to make it last as long as possible. Except for -

"Are the others watching us? Will they come break this up?" he asked anxiously.

"Oh, fuck, didn't think of that," New Jack groaned. He reached for his wrist strap and pressed a series of buttons. The overhead lights flickered and went out to be replaced by red emergency lights.

"You didn't just put this level into lockdown so we could have sex without interruption, did you?" Ianto asked, knowing the answer but wanting New Jack to admit it.

"Yeah, so get back to it!" New Jack demanded. "Hope you don't mind an audience, though. Cameras are still rolling."

Ianto felt a surge of blood stiffening his cock even more than it was already. The idea of everyone watching - of _Gwen _watching - He couldn't think of anything more exciting, exhilerating, _right_. Here he was, fucking New Jack, who was engaged to Gwen... He started laughing as he moved to kiss New Jack with renewed vigour. Getting New Jack off just by rimming him no longer mattered. He _had _to fuck him, _right now_!

_Fuck you, Gwen Cooper,_ Ianto thought. _Fuck you! He chooses me. He __always __chooses me! Alternate reality, where we've never met, and he __still __chooses me! So get off your ass and stop wanting him! You won't get him. He's __mine__!_

All other thoughts banished from his mind, Ianto lined up his cock and started pushing in. New Jack tensed, forcing Ianto to slow down or risk hurting him. He spit on his hand, added it to the mix. New Jack offered some as well, and with the added lubrication, Ianto was able to ease his way in.

New Jack was tight. New Jack was hot, a molten core. Ianto struggled to pause, to wait and give New Jack time to get used to being filled, but it was difficult. His body was screaming at him to move, to thrust, to claim the man under him as his own. His and his alone. But he held back, waiting for New Jack to signal he was ready.

Once he did, Ianto started to move slowly, teasingly, pulling almost all the way out before slamming in, hitting New Jack's prostate and making him whine in pleasure. Soon they were fucking with everything they had, New Jack's legs around Ianto's waist, his ankles locked to keep him in place, Ianto's hips pumping, his hand on New Jack's cock, tugging and stroking and making New Jack crazy. He sucked and bit at that perfect place on New Jack's neck that was always so responsive, and, for a change, he didn't break off too soon, leaving a huge hickey for anyone to see, unless, of course, New Jack was wont to wear turtlenecks, which Ianto doubted. His Jack had hated them. He used every bit of knowledge of His Jack's body to guide him as he continued, and then he could feel his balls tightening up, the coiling heat about to burst, hoping New Jack was just as ready but not caring if he wasn't because he _really _needed to -

"Get off him, now!" Owen shouted, holding a gun to Ianto's head. Neither of them had noticed the reversal of the lockdown or Owen's arrival. Strangely, Ianto's erection didn't melt, but, rather, got harder. Besides, _Gwen was watching him nail Jack _on the CCTV and, oh fuck, just thinking about her jealous rage made him hotter, wilder, even harder still.

New Jack didn't give either Ianto or Owen time to react. He just wrapped his arms around Ianto and rolled them off the slab onto the floor, tripping Owen and making him stagger backwards a few steps. All the air rushed out of Ianto's lungs as he landed on his back, reminding him of when they caught Myfanwy, but this was different, New Jack on top of him and, by some miracle, still impaled on Ianto's cock. He wriggled, finding the right angle and _squeezed _-

Ianto came with a ragged shout, New Jack right with him, cum spilling from his cock in white ribbons. They lay there, panting, staring into each other's eyes, New Jack's hands on Ianto's chest to keep himself steady as he weaved slightly. New Jack had a triumphant grin on his face. He extended a hand in Owen's direction.

"Wipes!" he demanded.

Reluctantly, grumbling and swearing, Owen handed them over. New Jack got to his feet, pulling off of Ianto's softening cock with a quiet popping sound. He cleaned himself up, tossed the remaining wipes to Ianto, and pulled on his boxers and trousers.

"All right," New Jack said, slapping his hands together enthusiastically. "Team meeting in twenty. Someone get coffee!" He looked over his shoulder at Ianto as he walked out of the cell behind Owen. "Thanks, Sunshine," he said with a wink and a leer. "We'll have to do that again sometime."

Alone in the cell, Ianto lay still for a moment, catching his breath. He stared up at the dirty ceiling and wondered if he'd ever get home. After a few minutes, when the drying sweat and cum started feeling uncomfortable, he took the wipes and cleaned himself off. Mindful of the CCTV and the Torchwood personnel who were no doubt watching him, he got dressed in New Jack's trousers, as well as an undershirt and one of the two regular shirts New Jack left behind. Using the balled wipes as a visual distraction, he secreted the swipecard under the bucket that was to be his toilet, knowing he'd have to find a better hiding place for it in the next few hours. He tossed the wipes in the bucket and went to sit on the slab.

It was suddenly much colder in the cells without New Jack's body heat, so he put on the second shirt over the first, wrapping it tightly around him, wishing they'd given him socks. He settled down to wait.


	5. Chapter 5

**Same Ianto, Different Jack**

**Chapter 5**

**by Gracefultree**

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"Tosh tells me you have powerful pheromones," New Jack declared, walking up to the glass many hours later. "She said not to come near you."

"Is that why they sent Owen to get you? Because he's dead and won't react?"

New Jack nodded and scratched the back of his neck. Ianto could see a bruise on his cheek, probably where Gwen had punched him. "Gwen says that the only reason she hasn't left me is because I was under the influence of alien pheromones."

Ianto grunted, trying to keep from smiling. He failed. "Didn't tell them it was _your_ pheromones they were reading on the sensors, did you?"

New Jack shrugged. "Our little secret."

Ianto smirked. _I can use this, _he thought. "What time is it?"

"3am."

"Ah, the witching hour. You always seem to wake up about now."

"Yep," New Jack said, popping the p.

"Anyone else in the building?"

"Nope."

"So if Tosh says to stay away, what are you doing here all by yourself? You could get ensnared by my pheromones again." Ianto pointed out. He stepped off the slab and walked towards the glass, settling gracefully onto the ground in front of it. He leaned his side against the glass. New Jack inched forward, so that he mirrored Ianto's pose on the other side, facing him, so they could see each other's faces.

"You interest me," New Jack said simply. "You're intriguing."

"It what way?" Ianto asked. He shivered a little and rubbed his arms to try to get warmer.

"Are you cold? I can get something," Jack offered.

"Socks would be grand, and maybe a blanket? Doesn't have to be anything fancy." New Jack bounded away. "And food!" Ianto shouted after him. New Jack returned ten minutes later with a pair of thick socks and a blanket from his own bed. He sent them through the food slot, then added a bottle of water and a few energy bars. "Thank you," Ianto murmured. He gratefully drank the water and tore into the energy bars, the first food and drink since he'd arrived. The blanket smelled like New Jack.

"I'd offer you coffee, but all we have is instant, and something tells me you'd rather go without than drink instant."

"You're right," Ianto confirmed. They sat in companionable silence.

"How did I compare to your Jack?" new Jack blurted out of nowhere.

Ianto chuckled. "It's always amazing with you."

"That didn't answer my question."

"How was it for you?" Ianto retorted.

"Best I've had in years," New Jack said softly, almost sadly. "Gwen's feisty, and always up for a shag, but she's not - I don't know, there's something missing."

"Like a dick?" Ianto offered sarcastically.

"Maybe. Maybe it's more that that, though."

"How did you two get together?"

"Her fourth day, I was training her in the shooting range..."

"One thing lead to another," Ianto supplied.

"She broke up with Rhys, and before I knew what was happening, we were living together."

"Shit."

"Yeah. It was really weird. Almost like there was alien interference, but I had Owen check me over, and there was nothing suspicious. It gets worse, though. After John died - you know him, right? John Ellis? He was in your universe?"

"I remember. You sat in the car with him while he died. You came back to the Hub and I cleaned you up and we had sex for six hours straight. It was the first night you asked me to stay with you afterwards." Ianto smiled sadly. "It was the first time I felt like you truly trusted me after Lisa."

New Jack grunted. "I needed a man that night, so I went out. Didn't tell Gwen where I was going because she was so busy with Emma and I needed the time. And it's not like we ever talked about being exclusive, but... She saw me leaving a pub with someone. The next day she confronted me about it in the middle of staff meeting."

"Ouch."

"Owen told her to leave me alone, 'a man like Jack has needs', while Tosh just sat there quietly, not saying anything. Gwen demanded I be faithful if I wanted to be with her." Ianto sensed something from New Jack, some resignation to his fate that Ianto didn't like. He raised a hand and pressed it against the glass. New Jack raised his to press against it on the other side. "I was so overwhelmed by everything, so messed up in my head, still so sad about losing John, that I said ok. You should've seen the look on Owen's face! She wouldn't sleep with me for a week, though, and I really needed it..."

"I know how calming sex can be for you," Ianto said. "That was a rough week. I don't think you let me go home for eight days, except when we went out and picked up that couple. That was fun. But Gwen should know that, too. She should know that you can't be confined to one lover unless you really make that choice on your own, without pressure."

New Jack snorted. "Yeah, tell me about it. You know me better than she does, and I just met you!"

"We'll, I've been in a -" Ianto paused. He evaluated the situation again. "I've been in a relationship with you for a long time, now," he finally admitted. An advantage of being with New Jack was that he could actually give a name to what he had with His Jack in a way His Jack would never accept.

"When Tosh and I were thrown back into 1941 and the real Jack Harkness started coming on to me, well, let's just say that I opened his eyes to a lot of things," New Jack said. "God, I needed that shag!"

"You never told Gwen," Ianto stated.

"No, and Tosh didn't, either."

"She's a loyal friend." He paused. "My Jack only kissed him."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Even though we weren't exclusive by any means, he preferred if I was there most of the time. I don't think he had time, either."

"I made the time," New Jack said. "First time with anyone but Gwen in far too long, and he was scared and brand new to the idea, let alone the process. I probably spent more time relaxing him than actually fucking him, but, hey, who was I to complain?"

After a few minutes, Ianto sighed and lowered his hand. "How did you end up engaged?"

"When I was on the Valiant, I created this image of Gwen to help me get through. She was kind, and calm, and nurturing, and not overbearing, and not stubborn. I forgot who she really was, so I asked her to marry me when I came back. I decided that I could deal with spending the rest of her life with just her. It wouldn't be so long, after all, and it wouldn't be the first time I buried a wife. I mean, she's a Torchwood agent! They all die young, except me." New Jack paused, looked at Ianto. "Had a shag with my old Time Agency partner when the team wasn't looking. Those cheekbones of his do it to me every time."

"I would've killed you myself if you'd done that," Ianto murmured. "You'd just gotten back. Gwen was engaged to Rhys, which upset you, and then you asked me out on an actual date. I was feeling pretty insecure about you right about then."

"I'm not generally a man who inspires confidence in my lovers," Jack muttered to himself. "I'm too selfish, most of the time."

"Yeah," Ianto agreed. "But My Jack was learning. He wants to be better for me, I think. He'd never _admit_ it, but I can see it happening."

"You're not judging me for all this?"

"Well, for one thing, you're not him. Close, but not the same man. It sounds like you're trying to convince yourself that it's ok to be miserable. What are you atoning for? What debt are you trying to balance out on your soul by doing this?"

"There's too much to say, too much to pick just one thing."

"That's why you live for today," Ianto suggested. "But your past haunts you." He drew in a deep breath. "My Jack started confiding in me after he came back. I think it's helped him. I could help you, while I'm here, be that sounding board."

"You're a kind man, Ianto Jones," New Jack whispered. "I guess, I guess I still feel bad for all the people who've died because I turned a blind eye to their struggles."

"But you're doing good, too," Ianto exclaimed, rising to his knees so he could face New Jack directly. "You do so much for people! You have Tosh set up bugs to take money from those mega corporations you hate and give it to things like hospitals and orphans. You created Flat Holm! That takes a lot of effort and patience."

"You know about Flat Holm?" New Jack demanded, surprised, jerking to his feet and distancing himself from the glass and Ianto. "No one's supposed to know about that! How did you find out?"

"You told me."

"I wouldn't do something like that!"

"You did," Ianto said firmly. "The week after John Ellis died. I took care of everything while you were away."

"You're lying!"

"No, Jack, I'm not. I promised after Lisa that I'd never lie to you again, and that includes a you from another universe. I'm not lying."

"Why? Why would you give me the same loyalty you give him?" New Jack demanded.

"Because I love him. And you're him, sort of. It's enough for me. I know I'll grow to love you, in time."

New Jack turned tail and ran.


	6. Chapter 6

**Same Ianto, Different Jack**

**Chapter 6**

**by Gracefultree**

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews and follows! I'm happy to give you the next installment. Enjoy!

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Ianto was almost asleep when he heard New Jack's boots in the hallway outside his cell. He closed his eyes and waited, huddling in his blanket.

"Ianto? Are you awake?" New Jack asked tentatively.

Ianto ignored him. Between leaving after their shag with barely an acknowledgment and running away in the middle of their talk earlier, Ianto was in no mood to be generous. Plus, he was tired and cold. He didn't think it had been very long since New Jack bailed on their conversation, so he'd probably sequestered the unpleasant emotions somewhere in the back of his head and come back to do whatever he'd originally come down for. Ianto _really _ hoped it wasn't sex. He wasn't ready to do that again with this man, though he knew he probably would if that's what New Jack asked for. New Jack was still _Jack_, as he kept reminding himself.

He wanted his own Jack.

The cell door clicked open and New Jack walked over to him. "Ianto?" New Jack asked again, shaking his shoulder gently.

"What?" Ianto mumbled, pulling his head out from under the blanket.

"Promise not to touch anything, ok? I want to take you somewhere."

Ianto yawned, covering his mouth to hide his knowing smile. New Jack's pheromones were in the air, and it was time to begin the game. How long could he resist New Jack's advances? Did he think sleeping with him would help? He definitely wanted to see him away from Gwen... and he knew it wasn't just his jealousy motivating that desire. New Jack was clearly miserable in his life with that woman, and if Ianto could help relight New Jack's spark for the world, he would consider this a successful mission. (Not that it was a mission. More of a detour.)

Jack wasn't the type to cheat on a partner, despite the reputation he carried. Instead, he would make it clear to his lover(s) that he was a free agent and leave it at that, or discuss it more if said lover needed to. If he wanted something outside the usual dalliances or routine, he would tell his lover(s), so they would be aware of what was going on. Jack felt that openness about what was going on was important. New Jack going behind Gwen's back to have sex with other people, not once, but _three times_, with _three different people, _disturbed Ianto greatly.

He climbed to his feet, stretched, folded his blanket, and put it down on the bench before turning to New Jack. His stolen swipe card remained in its new hiding place where he could come back for it if he ever needed it. _I'll probably be back here in a few hours, anyway,_ he mused. _And maybe I'll have some other tech or toy I can liberate. Only time you're ever going to hear me be thankful for my pickpocketing career. _

"I'm all yours, sir," he said to New Jack.

They walked side-by-side through the tunnels of the base. Ianto noted small differences, made sure to put them in a folder in his mind where he could easily access them again. As they entered the main Hub, Ianto felt the muscle in his cheek twitching that signaled the beginnings of an OCD episode. The place was trashed. Pizza boxes, take away containers, cardboard coffee cups, and balled-up papers littered every available surface, often spilling to the floor. They were drowning in files and folders and reports. He couldn't even _see_ Gwen or Owen's desks. Tosh's was passable, if messy and overrun with half-built tech, which helped him calm down a little. His mouth dropped open as he saw the array of tech just sitting out in the open.

"Don't you people even _pretend _to clean!" he growled, grabbing a bin liner from a pile of cleaning supplies that seemed unused and shoving as much rubbish into it as he could. "You! Put this in the Secure Archives. This, too. And that," he ordered New Jack.

New Jack stood there, completely frozen. His mouth worked open and closed, but he couldn't seem to form words.

"Jack! I said put those things away! And those two! And that one! Then get a bin liner and get to work!"

New Jack jumped to do what Ianto asked.

Ianto tied off the current bag and started a second. "I can forgo the recycling today," he muttered under his breath as he worked. "Just gotta get it clean. Gotta be able to work in here. Gotta be able to see their desks. Can't have germs. Jack likes it clean... never says anything, but he likes it. Gotta see the desks. Gotta get rid of the rubbish. Come on, Jones, clean faster!"

Ianto was tying off his sixth bag by the time New Jack got all the items into the Secure Archives. New Jack paused, hands on his hips, watching Ianto curiously.

"You know, this isn't really what I had in mind," he said petulantly.

"You want to have sex with me? Keep this place clean!" Ianto told him forcefully. He dropped the ninth bag to the floor, surveyed the area. All of the obvious rubbish was gone, though Ianto knew he'd find more if he started looking for it. _Time for that later_, he reminded himself. He started gathering coffee mugs and plates and spoons and any other dishes he saw left out. "Take all these to the incinerator. I'm tackling the kitchen."

New Jack watched for another minute before he went to do as he was told. He returned to find Ianto in the kitchen area doing the mountain of dishes. Silently, New Jack grabbed a flannel and started drying the clean ones. He got bored quickly, plus, he didn't have a place to put the dry dishes, since the cabinets were disorganized and dusty. He laid a hand on Ianto's shoulder to get his attention.

"Ianto, stop for a second," he murmured. Ianto turned off the tap and dried his hands. "Come with me," New Jack added, taking Ianto's elbow and pulling gently. Ianto followed him to New Jack's office, which was messier than His Jack's office, not that Ianto expected anything less, given that he wasn't around to make New Jack toe the line. On second look, though, it wasn't as bad as he expected, seeing the state of the rest of the Hub.

New Jack opened the manhole cover to his bunker. "I assume you know about my bunker, right? Go use the shower. I got you some clothes, too. Wasn't sure of your size, but they should be relatively ok. I totally guessed about the shoes, though." New Jack finished talking, not looking at Ianto. He seemed hesitant, sheepish, as if he expected Ianto to reject his suggestion.

Ianto smiled at the thoughtful gesture and gave New Jack a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you. It'll be nice to be clean again."

"I'll, um, I'll be in here," New Jack added, motioning to his office. "Just come get me when you're done."

"Thank you," Ianto repeated. He quickly climbed down the ladder and found himself surrounded by Jack's scent. He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, enjoying the burst of arousal that the smell created in his body. Opening his eyes, he looked around. The tiny space was even more austere than His Jack's had been when he arrived at Torchwood Three. The bed was made with military precision, the night table had a lamp and nothing else on it, and the closet contained the usual assortment of Jack's things. None of His Jack's books were there, none of the little alien trinkets he'd gathered over time. Sadness welled up in Ianto when he didn't see his spare suit on a hanger. He sat on the bed and let the tears fall silently, knowing that New Jack was giving him privacy for a while where there were no cameras.

"I miss you," he whispered to his absent lover. "I miss you because he's not you. And I worry about you. I know - I know I'm just one of thousands, millions you'll have over the course of your very long life, but I like to think that I matter, at least right now. I hope the others are helping you get through. I hope Gwen isn't taking advantage." He wiped his eyes. "I promise I'll do everything I can to get back to you. I really will. But I think this Jack needs me, too. He's so lonely, so broken. He didn't have anyone to put him back together after his travels with the Doctor. He doesn't have someone to come home to who respects his need for silence. He doesn't have love."

Ianto stood and stripped, dropping the clothing in (on top of) New Jack's hamper. He moved to the bathroom, where he found more evidence that New Jack had never brought Gwen down the ladder. Only Jack's bath products were in the shower and cabinet. Only Jack's toothpaste was by the sink. (Ianto knew Gwen's preference because he routinely stocked up on everyone's toiletries for their lockers, in case they needed to shower or clean up. He knew Tosh's and Owen's, too, of course.) He turned on the water, waited for it to warm up, then stepped under the spray.

"I love you, Jack. I love you so much it hurts, sometimes. And I know I've never said it, and I'm not even sure if you'd want to hear it, but I do. And I'm going to tell you as soon as I get back. Because I _will_ get back to you.

"I'm just taking a small pit-stop here first. I'll help him get better. Please don't be upset with me."

Ianto closed his eyes and let the hot water wash away his tears, feeling slightly lighter. He'd made his confession, he'd made his decision. Getting home was his top priority, but helping New Jack was right behind it on the list.

He luxuriated in the shower, enjoying the first opportunity in over 24 hours to get clean. When he finished, he went into the other room and examined the clothing New Jack bought for him. Stonewashed jeans, a size too small for him, a crimson button-down shirt, and boxers in the appropriate size. He chuckled. New Jack knew exactly what he was doing when he went shopping. His Jack would have done the same thing, being presented with an attractive young man who needed clothes. The shoes turned out to be black boots that were a size too big, but that was remedied by borrowing a pair of socks from New Jack.

Dressed, he climbed up the ladder to find New Jack humming softly as he organized his desk.

"I'm impressed," Ianto said. "You're cleaning."

"Well, you said you'd have sex with me if I did," New Jack pointed out.

"No, I said that you wouldn't get any if you didn't. I never said that you'd get more. Remember my conditions."

New Jack sighed and rolled his shoulders. "I know, I know. No Gwen." He turned in his chair to face Ianto. "Wow! You look great! I knew you would." Ianto preened under the praise. "I need some time to make a decision. But, for now, would you mind, um -" He broke off, clearly very embarrassed. He motioned to the hatch, his face turned down.

"Do you want to cuddle in bed?" Ianto asked gently, stepping forward to kneel at New Jack's feet. He reached up and ran his fingers lightly through New Jack's hair. New Jack nodded, silent. Ianto smiled, sad that this Jack was so hesitant about stating his desires. Or was it that he wasn't used to needing something? He guessed Gwen wasn't the sort to offer emotional support, or, rather, emotional support that someone like Jack could accept, so New Jack wasn't in the habit of asking for it. He tilted New Jack's face and kissed his lips. "Come on, then." He reached for New Jack's hand.

Once in the bunker, they both took off their boots and crawled under the remaining blanket, still clothed. Ianto settled on his side, with his back to the wall and his chest to New Jack's back. He wrapped the older man in his arms and held him tightly.

"It's four-thirty," New Jack murmured, tossing his watch onto his nightstand, though he kept the leather wriststrap on his wrist. "We can sleep for a few hours, if you want. I'll have to take you back to the cell, though. I'm sorry, but I can't let the others find you here."

"I understand," Ianto replied, meaning it. He did. He knew what kind of trouble New Jack would be in if this were discovered. He shifted, leaning over to kiss the back of New Jack's neck. "Sleep well."

"You, too."

Ianto waited until New Jack sighed and his breathing settled into a comfortable sleep pattern before letting himself drift off. He had work to do, and he knew he'd need as much sleep as he could get.


	7. Chapter 7

**Same Ianto, Different Jack**

**Chapter 7**

**by Gracefultree**

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Owen's footsteps in the hall outside his cell woke Ianto. Zombie-Owen, he decided, with his tentative steps because he couldn't feel the floor beneath his feet now that he was dead and had to actually _look_ where he was going and what he was doing. He remembered falling asleep while holding New Jack, in the bunker, though he didn't remember going back to the cell. New Jack must have carried him down.

"Rise and shine," Owen declared with a hint of bitterness and jealousy in his voice. Ianto remembered that the doctor no longer needed sleep. Or food, or water, or sex. "Time for me to check you for alien influences."

Ianto got up and rubbed sleep from his eyes. "Just a physical, or are there embarrassing extra tests?" he asked. He folded the blanket New Jack had draped over him.

Owen paused before answering. "Just a physical."

"All right, then," Ianto agreed. He noted the gun and handcuffs in Owen's hands, as well as the bandage around the last two fingers on his left hand. So this Owen didn't heal, either, Ianto thought to himself. "Standard procedure for transporting potentially dangerous prisoners in the Hub?" Owen nodded. "Can I wear my shoes? Jack gave them to me."

"Yeah, why not?" Owen answered. Ianto put on his shoes, walked to the back of the cell, faced the wall and put his hands behind his back. Owen snapped the cuffs into place. "Come on," Owen said. He pointed his gun at Ianto. "You're in front."

Ianto rolled his eyes and started walking. "Any chance of a trip to the loo?" He asked, a foix innocent expression on his face.

"Fuck you, Jones," Owen retorted. "I'm not holding your dick while you pee."

Ianto laughed. New Owen was remarkably similar to his usual Owen. He suspected Tosh would be, too. The major differences were with Jack and Gwen. "Will the whole team be watching?"

"They're not getting anywhere near you until we figure out this pheromone thing."

In the autopsy bay, Owen went through the usual routine, including bloodwork, reporting aloud what he found. Ianto assumed that the others were in the conference room listening in and potentially watching on the CCTV. One of Owen's machines beeped and he turned his back on Ianto to look at the results. As soon as he realized what he'd done, he whipped back around, gun raised in case Ianto had moved to attack him, since his hands were free of the restraints. Ianto raised an eyebrow.

"Really, Owen? I know you. You're my friend, sort of. I know that you can't heal. I won't do anything."

Owen visibly relaxed and returned the gun to the waistband of his jeans. He turned back to his monitor. "Shit," Owen swore under his breath. He pressed his comms. "Jack? Can you come down here?"

"It's the pheromones, isn't it?" Ianto asked softly. "You know they're not mine. Can you do me a favor and not tell Gwen?"

Owen glanced at him suspiciously, but moved closer so he could hear. He made a gesture at the camera. "Why?"

"Because Jack's miserable with her," Ianto replied so quietly Owen almost didn't catch it. "He might not be My Jack from my universe, but he's still Jack, and I want to help him. You've known him for a while, right? You knew him before Gwen arrived. Wasn't he happier? Wasn't he a better leader? More confident?"

"Yeah," Owen whispered, as if he'd only just thought of it. "Yeah, he was."

Jack arrived at the railing above the autopsy bay. "What's up?" he asked, his eyes moving between the two men.

"Where's Gwen?" Owen asked.

"Not in yet," Jack replied. "Why?"

"I know about the pheromones. This one -" he jerked a thumb at Ianto, "- doesn't want me to tell her."

New Jack blinked a few times, surprised. "Oh, um, yeah, that would be good," he finally said. "But you could tell Tosh privately, if you think that's ok?" he asked Ianto, who shrugged and nodded.

"So, other than that, everything looks fine," Owen declared. "He's a perfectly healthy human with minor residual Rift energy, but that's expected, given that he got here by taking a ride on the -"

The cog wheel door opened with it's usual fanfare and Gwen rushed in. She spotted New Jack immediately.

"You didn't come home last night!" she accused loudly, not bothering to pay attention to Owen or Ianto. She poked New Jack in the chest.

"No, I didn't," New Jack answered, keeping his voice calm even as his hands clenched into fists at his sides. "We have a prisoner and I was staffing the Hub." He puffed out his chest and crossed his arms over it. Gwen fumed.

"Really? Is that it? Weren't tempted to sniff the pheromones again?"

"No, actually," New Jack answered snippily. "Check the CCTV if you don't believe me," he barked. Gwen pushed her hair out of her eyes and went to do just that. Owen continued prodding Ianto for a while. Just as Ianto was buttoning his shirt again, Gwen came over and dragged New Jack away to his office. He and Owen could clearly hear them shouting at each other, though the closed door kept them from hearing the words.

Toshiko slipped down the steps and introduced herself. Ianto smiled brightly at her and gave her a big hug. Startled, she backed away. Ianto just smiled and stayed where he was, perched on the autopsy table.

"Thank you for cleaning last night," she said softly. "I saw it on the CCTV. It looks great in here."

"You're welcome. If you can convince Jack to give me a job, I'll keep the place even cleaner. Maybe I'll take a whack at the Archives."

"That would be brilliant," she said. "But right now you don't have to. I mean, it'd be like taking advantage of you." They all paused. "What were you doing up? And out of the cell?"

"I couldn't sleep, so Jack and I were talking. He wanted me to take a look at the coffee machine," Ianto answered smoothly. "I told him that's a big part of what I did at my Torchwood, and he wanted a taste. Didn't get to it, unfortunately, but we'll see what happens."

"What are Harkness and Cooper fighting about?" Owen asked, noting that the shouting got slightly louder.

"He didn't come home last night, he didn't pick up the laundry or dry cleaning, he didn't cook, even though yesterday was his day. The usual," she replied with a casual shrug.

"What's that? Three out of the last four he wasn't at home?"

"Yeah. And seven of the last ten. If she really thinks they're getting married next week, I think she's in for a rude awakening," Tosh confirmed. "He might not be sleeping around yet, but mark my words, he will within the first year."

"Tosh, that's so pessimistic of you," Owen joked. "Keep it up and I'll be out of a job."

"You don't agree?"

"I think it'll be within the week, if he keeps Jones here around," Owen told her. They both glanced at Ianto. "Right, mate?"

Ianto felt himself blushing. "Right," he whispered. "If that's what Jack wants. I gave him my conditions for a sexual relationship with me. He has to decide if he wants it badly enough."

"What are the conditions?" Owen asked, rubbing his hands together excitedly.

"They're private," Ianto said, his blush deepening.

"No Gwen," Tosh guessed. Ianto looked at her in surprise. "I can see how much it upsets you," she explained. Ianto slowly nodded.

"No Gwen," he repeated.

Tosh and Owen looked at each other. "Within the week," Tosh murmured.

Above them, New Jack's door slammed open and the man himself charged out. "- and if you can't deal with it, I'll -" he was shouting.

"You'll what?" Gwen shouted back. "Leave me? I think we all know that's ridiculous. You _need _me!"

"Whatever," he muttered. New Jack climbed down the steps and offered Ianto a hand up. Ianto gratefully accepted, letting his fingers linger on New Jack's palm without conscious thought. Gwen's eyes widened when she saw it.

"Thanks," Ianto said gruffly.

"I'll escort him back to his cell," New Jack declared loudly, shoving Ianto up the stairs.

"Jack!" Gwen exclaimed.

"Look, Gwen, there are a dozen cameras between here and there, not to mention the three on the hallway and cell itself." He pointed at Owen's computer. "If you don't trust me to be able to walk him down there without a chaperone, you can watch, all right?" He growled.

"I don't think that will be necessary," Ianto muttered under his breath, upset at how New Jack had just touched him. New Jack propelled him towards the lower levels. At the first stairway, the small, three-step one, New Jack pushed Ianto forcefully, still grumbling to himself about Gwen. Ianto stumbled down the steps, catching himself at the last moment because of years of practice.

Ianto hauled back and punched New Jack in the jaw.

"Ianto! What the fuck?"

"If you ever lay your hands on me like that again, or hit me when we're not doing a scene, I will leave you," Ianto snarled, low and fierce. "And I will ruin you while I do it. I know things about you, Captain Jack Harkness, and I won't hesitate to use that knowledge."

New Jack stood there, a hand raised to his bruised cheek, his mouth hanging open, completely poleaxed.

"I will do a lot of things for you, Jack. I will be your butler and Archivist and lover, but I will not let you abuse me. And I won't be your punching bag when you're having a row with Gwen. Do I make myself clear?"

Before New Jack could respond, Owen and Gwen appeared, guns drawn and pointed at Ianto.

"Everything ok, Jack?" Gwen asked, her eyes not leaving Ianto.

New Jack swallowed, glancing at Ianto out of the corner of his eye, who was standing with his arms crossed over his chest, ignoring the guns pointed at him. "It's fine," New Jack said. "I just put my foot in my mouth," he explained. "You can go back upstairs. I'll be right there."

Owen looked to Gwen, and she nodded. They holstered their guns and left, Gwen still watching them suspiciously for a few more steps. New Jack turned to Ianto.

"Look, I'm -"

"Do you understand?" Ianto asked again.

"Yes. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. It won't happen again."

Ianto nodded and relaxed his arms. His demeanor shifted to playful. "By the way," he added with a wink, "my safeword is Polly." He started walking towards the cellsa swing in his step and a sashay in his hips, and New Jack had to jog to catch up to him because he stared at Ianto's ass for too long. He leaned in to whisper in Ianto's ear as soon as they were around the corner.

"So you've got a kinky side, huh? Wanna play doctor?"

Ianto sighed, running his fingers through his hair. "No, Jack. Not really. I'd rather have some coffee, actually. And breakfast." New Jack pouted. It reminded Ianto so much of His Jack that when the next CCTV blindspot came, he shoved New Jack against the wall and kissed him. He pulled away far too soon for either of them. "Get me some paper and a pen. I'll give you a list of what I need. Make sure I get it, and you'll get more kisses later, yeah?"

"Yeah," New Jack responded, dazed. He shook himself. "How do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"I don't know, make me feel like you care about me even as you're telling me what to do. Gwen tells me what to do all the time and I don't want to do it, but end up doing it anyway to keep from having a row. But even just now when I messed up and made you angry..." He trailed off, not sure how to put his feelings into words.

Ianto sighed sadly and raised a hand to cup New Jack's cheek in an affectionate, intimate gesture he'd been wanting to do with His Jack but hadn't felt secure enough to actually do. He sensed that New Jack needed it, and if he was any kind of gentleman, Ianto knew it would be cruel to withhold it. He stroked New Jack's cheek with his thumb. "I do care," he answered softly. He gave New Jack a peck on the lips and turned away. "Better not linger too long in the blindspot," he said over his shoulder.

They ended up pausing for a few minutes at each blindspot to kiss, and at the last one Ianto decided enough was enough. They jerked each other off hurriedly, knowing they didn't have much time because Gwen was watching the CCTV.

"Why does it feel so good with you?" New Jack wondered aloud as he licked Ianto's cum from his hand.

"I'm new?" Ianto suggested, licking his own hand clean. "I know your body because of My Jack's?"

"Will you let me sneak you up to my bed again tonight?"

"Have you made your decision?"

"I'm getting there. I need to know you a little better, first."

"Then we'll talk about it tonight. I don't want you getting into it with your team over me."

"They won't catch us, unless we sleep through my alarm. I altered the CCTV in a way not even Tosh can crack. It just shows you cleaning, then going back down here. I can do something different for tonight."

They stopped in front of Ianto's cell. "I'll see you later," Ianto said, leaning forward for a final kiss. New Jack jerked back before their lips could touch. "Sorry!"Ianto exclaimed, remembering Gwen watching. It was becoming a heady turn-on.

New Jack shrugged and opened the cell. "Maybe later?"

"Maybe later," Ianto agreed, walking in and sitting down. New Jack tossed him a bottle of water and more of those energy bars from before.

"Save those for in case we get called out and can't get you dinner on time. I'll make sure you get some coffee and breakfast."

New Jack closed the cell and walked away, after a lingering look at Ianto.


	8. Chapter 8

**Same Ianto, Different Jack - Chapter 8**

**by Gracefultree**

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Ianto dozed off and on for hours, having nothing to do making him feel lazy. As lazy as one could be, trapped in a cell in an alternate universe. New Jack had provided food and coffee, but then a Rift call came through and Ianto was left behind, locked in. He briefly contemplated using his swipecard to go exploring, but decided that he'd be seen on the CCTV, and unless he could disable it, he'd be shit out of luck when New Jack got back.

So he waited. And waited. It was difficult to tell time down in the cells, but Ianto figured he'd been down there for at least six hours since the call. He finished his water and one of the energy bars, leaving two left. He dozed some more.

Heels on the hallway floor woke him. Tosh's heels, since she was lighter on her feet than Gwen. He rubbed sleep from his eyes and sat up to greet her.

"Ianto, hi. We had a pretty bad Rift flare," she explained as she started passing him a sandwich, a container of soup, more water bottles, and a cup of coffee. Last of all she passed him a pen and pad of paper. "And we're still dealing with it, so I can't stay to chat, either, so, um, sorry!" She turned and left, but then came back. "Jack says hi, by the way."

"Thanks, Tosh. Tell him hi from me. And if none of you mind, could I have a watch? Or you could put a clock on the wall over there?" Ianto motioned to the wall facing his cell. "I'd like to be able to tell time. It gets rather boring down here."

"Oh, of course. I'll talk to Jack." They smiled at each other before Tosh went back to work and Ianto sat down with his food.

More time passed. Ianto wrote a list of things he'd like, including the timepiece, and on a separate page outlined what responsibilities he would be willing to take on as a Torchwood employee in this universe while he waited to go home. He wrote a letter to His Jack. He wrote as if the pad of paper was his journal, though he didn't outline his plan for escaping. He didn't actually _want_ to escape. He wanted to make himself invaluable to them so they would keep him around so he could be at the Hub when the proper Rift signal happened so he could go home.

The next time he heard footsteps coming down the hall to his cell, they were unmistakably New Jack's. Ianto stood, straightened his hair as much as he could without a mirror, unbuttoned the top two buttons of his shirt, and gathered his two lists, leaving the rest of his writing carefully hidden.

When New Jack appeared, he was dripping wet, with his entire body from his chest down to his feet covered in what looked like black ink. He was also exhausted, with large dark circles under his eyes. Ianto had rarely seen His Jack look this bad, and he was surprised that New Jack would even let himself be seen like this, let alone by a stranger. Ianto shuddered to think of the puddles of ink that would be all over the Hub floors, wherever New Jack had been. New Jack waved away anything he would have said and opened the cell door.

"Come on," he said wearily. "I need help getting this gunk off me, and Owen refused."

"He refused?" Ianto asked. "But, I'm a stranger! You haven't decided if you can trust me or not."

"Apparently he has better things to do with his time than help me." New Jack sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, thereby getting the gunk in it. He scowled at himself. "I'm not asking Tosh, and Gwen would turn it into an opportunity for sex, which I am _not_ in the mood for right now."

"Sex? Or sex with Gwen?" Ianto heard himself wondering aloud, then bit the inside of his cheek.

"Both!" New Jack barked. "It's her fault I'm like this anyway. If she'd just listened to my orders, we would've been able to bag it and get it back here in a few hours. As it is, she disobeyed and it took most of a day and I ended up having to kill it, which wasn't fun, let me tell you, and now I'm covered in this shit!"

Ianto shoved his lists into his pocket and stepped out of the cell. "Well, let's not keep you waiting any longer, sir."

In the communal locker room, Ianto stripped to his boxers and helped Jack out of his clothing, which immediately went into the rubbish bin. Ianto was glad he hadn't been wearing his greatcoat.. They walked into the shower area to find Tosh and Gwen already there, scrubbing away at the inky stuff on themselves. Ianto sighed, realizing that this shower set-up, unlike the one at His Torchwood, didn't have those half-walls to give the illusion of privacy. Gwen's eyes lit up at seeing New Jack, then immediately darkened in anger at seeing Ianto.

"What's _he _doing here?" she demanded, grabbing a towel to cover herself. Tosh, meanwhile, continued washing, not giving either of the two men a second glance. _She must be used to it, _Ianto thought, turning on the shower head next to the one New Jack chose and turning it to spray New Jack's lower half. He watched in disgust as the stuff started streaming off New Jack's body, making dirty rivulets on the floor as it made its way to the drain.

"Ianto is helping get this shit off me," New Jack explained patiently, wetting his hair. "You've got your own to figure out, and Owen wouldn't do it."

"That's because Owen didn't get any of this on him," Tosh said from her place in between New Jack and Gewn. "And he's probably watching this whole thing on the CCTV to see if Gwen and I suddenly decide to have a go at it. He's a sick man, sometimes."

"But the pheromones .." Gwen protested.

"They don't work with this much water around," Ianto lied. "Never been able to figure out why. Makes joint showers less interesting."

New Jack laughed. Tosh giggled. Gwen stood there trying to keep a smile from her face, but eventually failed. Ianto determined that all the loose ink had washed away, so he grabbed a bottle of liquid body wash and a flannel and began washing New Jack's back. He kept the touches and movements detached and slightly clinical, so Gwen couldn't accuse him of trying to seduce New Jack. Plus, he was still wearing his shorts. He added his indifferent butler mask for increased effect.

After a few minutes Tosh determined that she was clean and left the showers, sending Ianto a wink when Gwen moved from her shower to Tosh's, so she could be closer to New Jack. He nodded in return, wondering what that meant. He returned his attention to New Jack, who was looking much cleaner and much more … horny. Ianto could see the speculation behind his eyes, and it scared him.

In his own universe, there'd never really been a possibility of anything happening with Gwen, since by the time His Jack was ready to make a go for Gwen, she'd taken up with Owen, and His Jack had wanted nothing to do with that. Then he'd gotten back together with Ianto and the No Gwen rule applied. But this Jack, New Jack, had no such compunctions, and was clearly starting to fantasize about what could happen with three beautiful naked people in the showers.

Ianto handed him the flannel and went back to the lockers, telling him he'd be on the main level cleaning. New Jack protested weakly, but Gwen must have cut him off, because by the time Ianto made it to the lockers, he could hear the sounds of their wet skin sliding together and Gwen's throaty moans.

In the main Hub, Tosh and Owen were shuffling through things on their desks. Ianto shuddered at the mess they'd been able to create in such a short amount of time. He grabbed a bin liner and went to work. Because the biggest offenders were already gone, Ianto took more care in his search for rubbish. He found it rather relaxing, though Owen seemed amused and Tosh mildly curious. By the time a clean and satisfied looking New Jack joined them, Ianto had filled five bags and was in the process of straightening out the kitchen area from where he'd left it the night before.

"Ianto, these go to the incinerator?" New Jack asked, indicating the bags.

"Yes, that would be grand," he replied, pausing in surprise that he would sound so chipper with New Jack, knowing what (who) he'd just been doing. He shook his head at himself and went back to the cleaning. Maybe it was some false cheeriness to get him through without throwing something at New Jack? Like the plate in his hand...

Later, once everyone was gone except Ianto and New Jack, and all the dishes were clean and put away, Ianto took a few minutes to sit on the ratty sofa and look at what he'd been able to accomplish. The kitchen and coffeemaker were sparkling, though he still didn't have the ingredients to actually _make_ coffee. There wasn't any rubbish on or under desks. The files, though disorganized, were stacked neatly. New Jack settled next to him and handed him a scotch.

"You've done a lot today," he said, clinking his glass against Ianto's. "Thank you."

"All part of my job, sir," Ianto replied absently.

"You didn't like me being with Gwen," New Jack stated. Ianto turned to look at him. "It was either that, or go home with her tonight. If I did that, I wouldn't be able to talk to you, and you'd be sitting down in that cell being bored."

"You've always been good at rationalization," Ianto replied, sipping the scotch. "Ah, the good stuff," he exclaimed happily.

"Are you always so good at changing the subject?"

"I've had to be," Ianto said softly. "But to answer your question; no, I didn't like it."

"I'm not _him_," New Jack reminded him.

"And don't I know it better than anyone?" Ianto asked himself sadly.

"Does me sleeping with her mean you won't hold me tonight?"

Ianto stared into his scotch for a long moment, weighing his choices. Intellectually, he knew he would have to start sleeping with New Jack again rather soon, but his heart wasn't quite there yet. A lot would depend on New Jack. "What do you like about being with her?"

"She's strong, feisty, always up for a shag..."

"You said all that yesterday. What else?"

"She's loyal."

"What else?"

"What is this? Twenty Questions?" New Jack demanded, slightly angry. Before Ianto could answer, Jack's mobile rang. Grumbling, he pulled it from his pocket. "Harkness."

"_Baby, you said you'd come home tonight," _Gwen whined on the other end of the line, loud enough that Ianto could hear every word.

"Someone has to stay at the Hub."

"_Just forward the alerts to your wriststrap like you usually do. I miss you!" _

"Sorry. I've got Ianto here. Can't leave."

"_We're getting married in __six days,_ _Captain Harkness, and I expect you to be home at night! Have Owen watch the Hub if you're so worried. He doesn't need the sleep." _

New Jack pinched the bridge of his nose. "Gwen..."

"_No, don't 'Gwen' me! You've been acting really strange since that man showed up, and I need to know why. You haven't been coming home at night, you've been moody, you've been obsessed with him. What's so fascinating about him? Why do you spend hours staring at him on the CCTV? He's not even that good to look at!" _

"Gwen..."

"_I've always loved you, Jack, since we first met. You love me, too. We're supposed to be together. You know that. I don't want this stranger coming between us. I mean, he doesn't even know us!" _

"Gwen, you don't -"

"_Don't tell me I don't understand, Mister. My parents are coming up for this wedding, and I'm not going to disappoint them!" _

"I thought it was just a civil ceremony at the Registrar's office!" New Jack protested. "With Tosh and Owen and no one else!"

"_I am __not_ _getting married without my Mum and Dad there," _Gwen told him. "_Get used to it." _

"But, Gwen -"

"_You are going to be in big trouble if you're not here in the next twenty minutes." _Gwen hung up. New Jack stared at his phone, not sure what to do. He turned to look at Ianto.

"Um..."

"Yes, I'll hold you again," Ianto said without prompting. "Come on."

Once settled in New Jack's bed, both of them dressed in boxers and t-shirts, New Jack clung to Ianto's arms around his middle. With a start, Ianto realized that he was crying.

"Jack? Jack, what's wrong?" he asked softly, rolling them over so New Jack was on his back and Ianto could lay on top of him and press their whole bodies together, knowing how physical closeness helped ground His Jack when his emotions were running high. He thumbed away the tears on New Jack's cheeks. "Jack, talk to me. Please."

New Jack just shook his head and clung to Ianto harder, eventually crying himself to sleep, despite all of Ianto's soft reassuring words and kisses.


	9. Chapter 9

**Same Ianto, Different Jack - Chapter 9**

**by gracefultree**

A/N: Thank you everyone for reviewing and enjoying. Here's a nice long chapter for you.

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Morning came all too soon. Ianto woke to the sound of New Jack's wriststrap beeping incessantly. The pleasantness of being warm and almost naked in New Jack's arms quickly dissipated. New Jack groaned, reaching over Ianto to turn it off, thereby wrapping himself closer around Ianto. He twined their legs together under the light blanket. Their eyes met in the dim bunker. New Jack looked away, embarrassed.

"Hey," Ianto said, taking his face in his hands. "You ok?"

"I'm sorry about yesterday," New Jack responded, his voice rough and sleepy.

"Everyone needs a good cry now and then," Ianto murmured, kissing New Jack. "Especially someone like you."

"No, I'm sorry about what happened with Gwen."

"Doesn't matter," Ianto replied a little too quickly.

"No, it does," New Jack protested. "I shouldn't have had sex with her when I hadn't made up my mind yet. Hell, I probably shouldn't be doing this, either." He snuggled closer to Ianto, breathed in the scent of him, soaked up some of the warmth. "But I feel like I can let my guard down a little with you," he said in a whisper. Ianto held him close and started stroking his hair. New Jack continued.

"I feel like I can trust you. You're honest about what this would be, what it would mean and what it wouldn't. I know you're going to leave someday, so I can relax and enjoy what we have now. I can't do that with her. Everything I think she wants, she changes, and everything I want... Well, it gets shoved under the rug. I've been trying to ignore it, but..."

"I'm sorry, Jack."

"She just doesn't see me for _me,_" New Jack complained. "I don't think she ever has. Makes me wonder if she'll ever be able to do it."

"She idolizes you too much," Ianto offered. "She doesn't see you as a man, flawed like the rest of us. You're her hero."

"My mother always warned that you're not supposed to marry the hero because they tend to die," New Jack said. "That's not something I have to worry about, huh?" He grunted at the irony.

"My mother told me that stories always end with the Prince and Princess getting married because after that it's all about babies and nappies and politics and affairs."

"She told you that?" New Jack asked, surprised.

"Well, I'm paraphrasing."

New Jack chuckled and rolled so he could look directly into Ianto's eyes. He hesitantly ran his fingers down Ianto's cheek, through his hair, over his stubbled chin, testing if Ianto would protest. "You need a shave, Mr. Jones," New Jack said playfully. He kissed along Ianto's jaw, behind his ear, along his throat. Ianto closed his eyes and hissed in pleasure. New Jack continued, growing more bold. He sucked on Ianto's ear.

"Jack, we have to stop," Ianto complained, pushing ineffectually at New Jack, his smile matching New Jack's in its playfulness, his tone light and teasing.

"You don't really mean that," New Jack murmured, running his teeth along Ianto's collarbone, making Ianto shiver. "Do you?"

"My head says yes, my cock says no," Ianto answered, pulling New Jack's face up for a deep kiss. "Or is it the other way around?" New Jack hummed appreciatively, finding said cock and stroking it lightly through the fabric of Ianto's boxers. Ianto moaned, crushing his hips against New Jack's, feeling erection sliding on erection with only thin cotton between them.

New Jack's lips found his chest, kissing, exploring. Where had his shirt gone? And where was New Jack's, for that matter? And - oh God - was that _teeth_ on his _nipple_? How did New Jack know he liked that?

Ianto's eyes slid closed again as he responded to the touch, to the pheromones in the air, to his body telling him it had been _too long _since his last fuck. Since when was two days _too long_? He latched onto New Jack's neck, sucking and licking, biting gently until he had another mark to prove New Jack was _his_. New Jack moaned and thrashed in his arms.

This was nothing like the quick fuck they'd shared before in Ianto's cell. This was almost making love.

Simultaneously, they moved to kiss again.

"I want you, Ianto," New Jack said breathlessly between kisses, slipping his hands under the waistband of Ianto's boxers to caress his ass.

"Yes," Ianto growled, having long since given up the fight with himself. Gwen or no Gwen, he was going to have this man! He _needed _this man, though not as much as he needed His Jack... But His Jack wasn't there, and seducing New Jack into trusting him would make it easier to get back to His Jack. He just had to do it in a way that wouldn't break New Jack when he left.

It sounded like New Jack was aware of the risks of getting involved with him, though. Maybe it wouldn't be so hard, after all. Maybe they could figure it out.

Either way, Ianto had made his decision sometime between last night and this morning. Maybe it was seeing New Jack so upset yesterday, maybe it was the comfort they both gained from contact with each other, maybe it was simply the sexual attraction between them, but he wasn't going to deny them pleasure any longer.

"I want you now," New Jack clarified.

"Yes," Ianto repeated.

"Right now, on this bed."

"Yes!"

"Please don't be playing with me," New Jack begged, and Ianto heard a desperation in New Jack's voice. A vulnerability. "I know I haven't fully made my choice yet, but I'm getting closer and closer, and -"

"It's ok, _cariad,_" Ianto whispered, cutting New Jack off. "I'm asking you to change your whole life. It's not easy, and to do it for someone who might leave tomorrow, well, that makes it more scary, doesn't it? That I'll go back?"

New Jack nodded.

"Make love to me now, Jack. Let's see if that helps you choose." Ianto kissed New Jack's closed eyelids. New Jack sighed happily, relaxing again in Ianto's arms. "That's it. Let me take care of you, yeah? We'll start the day out right." They kissed again, hands moving deftly over skin, heating the air and the moment between them.

New Jack's wriststrap started beeping again, more insistently than before. He glanced at the tiny display and started cursing.

"What?" Ianto asked.

"Gwen's here," New Jack answered. "She just went in through the tourist office."

"Shit! What do we do?" Ianto squeaked, feeling like a teenager being caught making out in his parents' bed because there was so much more space than in his own. Not that there was really any space in this bed, but that wasn't the point...

"I'll go change the CCTV logs, then distract her. Then you run back down there as fast as you can when she's not paying attention to my office," New Jack decided. He kissed Ianto again. "I'm sorry. I'll figure it all out soon, I promise." Ianto nodded and let him go, sad that he had to hide what was happening between them, but happy that New Jack seemed to be choosing him over Gwen. _And he's willing to show me some of his loneliness and vulnerability so quickly, _Ianto thought. _It took months for My Jack to let me see this far into his psyche. _

_Then again, this Jack has been ignored and beaten down by Gwen. _He sighed. _I always knew they'd be bad for each other. _

Ianto dressed and sat in New Jack's bunker out of sight of Gwen, who charged into New Jack's office as soon as he climbed up the ladder, still dressed only in his boxers. Ianto was glad to see his erection had gone down.

"Jack! What's the meaning of this?" Gwen demanded shrilly. "I waited up all night for you!" she exclaimed in that voice that said 'take pity on poor little me.' Ianto hated that voice. There was a pause, and Ianto imagined her looking at New Jack's disheveled state. "And what are you doing dressed like that? That's highly inappropriate, don't you think?"

"Come on, Gwen, let it go. I just woke up," New Jack responded. "And it's not like everyone sees the goods every other week in the showers, or anything. Or is it? Oh, wait, yes, they do!" he finished sarcastically. "If I want to wander around my home dressed like this before everyone else arrives, I have every right to."

"This isn't your home," Gwen corrected him. "Your home is with me, in our flat."

"I hate that flat," New Jack muttered.

"What? No, you don't. We picked it together."

"I wanted a penthouse flat," New Jack exclaimed. "That was my only requirement. And where are we? The ground floor!"

"That's not important," Gwen replied, dismissing his concerns.

"That was the only thing I cared about!" New Jack shouted.

In the distance, Ianto heard the cog wheel door opening a second time. Tosh, he assumed. New Jack stomped from his office, Gwen following. Only Jack could make so much noise with bare feet.

"Jack!" Tosh exclaimed. "Is it casual, um, Tuesday? It is Tuesday, right? Casual Tuesday? Or Almost Naked Tuesday?" She paused, then continued with an admiring, flirtatious tone His Tosh had never used with His Jack. "Or maybe we can make it Naked Tuesday?"

New Jack laughed, a strained laugh, but a laugh nonetheless. "It's Tuesday," he told her. "I haven't decided what to wear yet. Should I go with the blue shirt, or the blue shirt?"

Tosh giggled. "I think the blue one." Ianto heard some movement, but didn't dare go up the ladder yet. "What are you both doing here so early?"

"Gwen and I were just discussing our living arrangements."

"Oh?" Tosh asked, curiosity bubbling over in the single syllable.

"I want to move house to a penthouse flat," New Jack declared proudly. Ianto smiled in the dark. He loved when Jack was confident.

"It's not safe," Gwen interjected.

"I think it'd be rather romantic," Tosh said, a smile in her voice. "Standing there, looking out at the city we protect..."

"Tosh! You're just the woman for me. Let's get that flat together," New Jack said. "Bet Ianto would like it, and we know Owen does..."

"We are _not _all living together!" Gwen shouted, interrupting New Jack's rambling. "Besides, I need you to concentrate, here. We have to figure out the seating arrangements."

"The what?" New Jack asked.

"The seating arrangements," Gwen repeated. "You know, for the reception."

"For the reception?"

"After the ceremony," she explained, as if talking to a small child. "After we have the wedding ceremony, there's the reception."

"The reception," New Jack muttered, and Ianto could hear a strange catch in his voice. "You planned a reception? How many people are supposed to be there?"

"Oh, I'm not sure, maybe a hundred. I'm still waiting to hear back from a few people."

"You planned a reception for a hundred people for our wedding when I specifically told you I wanted a quiet civil ceremony at the registrar's with just Tosh and Owen?" Ianto heard the edge of steel in New Jack's voice, and he shivered. This wasn't going to be fun. He was glad he was hiding down in the bunker.

"Of course I did," Gwen said. "You can't have a wedding that simple anymore. And I wanted my family and friends there."

"And you thought going behind my back and planning it on your own was a good idea?" New Jack asked.

"You wouldn't have helped," Gwen replied, still talking to the imaginary child. "How could I have gotten what I wanted otherwise?"

"And what about what _I_ want?" New Jack asked.

"You've got me. That should be more than good enough," Gwen answered.

"Get out," New Jack growled. When no one said anything and Ianto didn't hear movement, he assumed Gwen had crossed her arms over her chest and glared at New Jack, trying to stare him down as she was wont to do. "I said, get out!" New Jack shouted.

"But, Jack -"

"No! You have systematically gone behind my back and changed everything about the wedding that we agreed on. I can't look at you right now. Go!"

"But -"

"Go!" New Jack roared. Ianto heard Gwen's reluctant footsteps and the cog wheel door opening and shutting. "Ianto!" New Jack called. "Coast is clear, come on out."

Ianto obediently climbed the ladder and walked through New Jack's office to the main Hub. Tosh had an arm around New Jack's shoulders, and New Jack was shaking. Tosh looked up, took in his new outfit and that he'd come from the office where she knew New Jack slept and nodded at him. He strode over to hold New Jack as Tosh slipped away.

"Has she always been like that?" New Jack asked Tosh.

"It's gotten a lot worse since you got engaged," she answered. "I mean, you told her in front of the whole group that you came back for her, then asked her to marry you."

"I came back for all of you!" New Jack said.

"Well, she thought it was for her only."

New Jack shook his head sadly and leaned against Ianto. "What do I do now?" he asked.

"For now, get dressed," Ianto said. "I'll take you out for coffee."

"You don't have any money here," New Jack pointed out, a small smile finding its way to his lips.

"Oh, well then. Can I borrow ten pounds?" Ianto asked with an impish grin on his face. New Jack laughed, a much more relaxed than earlier when Tosh was flirting with him.


	10. Chapter 10

**Same Ianto, Different Jack - Chapter 10**

**by Gracefultree**

A/N: Thanks for sticking with me. Here's the next chapter. Enjoy!

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The day went smoothly for the most part, after Ianto and New Jack went out to breakfast. New Jack allowed Ianto freedom around the main part of the Hub, which gave him the opportunity him to get to know this universe's Tosh and Owen while he let his not-so-dormant OCD out to play with their mess. As he went about his work, little things reminded him of His Jack. For example, New Jack preferred the green-striped mug, rather than the blue-striped one. Ianto saved the blue one for himself. New Jack had a professional relationship with Kathy Swanson, rather than barely tolerating each other, like His Jack and the detective did. New Jack meditated for an hour at lunchtime, if he could. His Jack wouldn't be caught dead meditating.

But many things were the same, too. New Jack had the same erogenous zones, from the little Ianto had seen. New Jack had the same fashion-sense. New Jack took his coffee the same way, and moaned just as obscenely as His Jack when presented with a fresh cup of Ianto's special brew. New Jack flirted just as much, though his flirtatious mask was thicker, making the flirtations not as genuine.

The first _major _difference Ianto noted in this universe was that New Owen had been married to Katie when she died, though he remained a terror at the clubs for years after that, had fallen for Diane, fought a Weevil, opened the Rift, shot New Jack, died protecting Martha Jones, and become a Zombie thanks to New Jack's intervention.

New Tosh, it turned out, was a bit more spunky that His Tosh. She cornered him in the afternoon while he made coffee. He'd convinced them that they needed his coffee with the first taste, and he figured he'd have them all addicted by the end of the week. Hmm, maybe not such a good thing, considering that his placement here was short term? Ah, well.

"Ianto? Can I ask you something?" New Tosh asked, sliding up next to him.

"Sure."

"You and Jack, how'd you get together?"

"Me and My Jack, or me and this one?"

"Yours, I suppose. We all saw the CCTV of the other day."

Ianto paled slightly. "I knew that, and yet, it's still rather disturbing to hear," he said softly. "I like to keep those things private, as much as Jack will allow. And we've tried to keep it away from our colleagues..."

"You should've seen Gwen," Tosh said conspiratorially. "She was livid! But I haven't seen Jack stand up to her in months, and he's started to do that since you came, so all I can say is that you're a good influence."

"It _was _rather hot to know I was fucking her man," Ianto admitted with a blush. "She and I never quite got on all that well back in my world. We didn't hate each other, or anything, but she never gave up on Jack, and he gave her more mixed signals than he gave me. At least he was only sleeping with me."

"I'll tell you a secret," she whispered, leaning close. He bent slightly to be able to hear her better. "Me and Jack, well, we had an affair! It lasted about three months, when I first got here."

Ianto stood motionless. "You? Jack? You and Jack?" he sputtered, unable to get his mind around the concept of 'Jack and Tosh.'

"Yep. I was really scared, being back among people again after being stuck with UNIT for almost a year. He said he knew a way to build my confidence, make me feel better, all that stuff. Well, it sure did!"

"Was he up front with who he is?"

"About his relationship style, yes," she answered. "The other stuff? Being a Time Agent and from the future and not staying dead? No, I had to find that out with everyone else. He was very clear that it was temporary and that it was just for fun and to help me. And that there'd be others. What about you and yours?"

"At first it was convenience. We both worked long hours, didn't have time to find other people. I was using him, though I liked being with him that way. After I betrayed him, well, he made a point of going out frequently. When we got back together again... one out of every five times we were together included at least one other person. Sometimes two."

"Wow! Was it hot?"

"Yeah, but it had its place. I think it was about his reaction to my betrayal, and I knew that, but it still hurt that he didn't want it to be just us in bed anymore. There hadn't been any of that before. He didn't really trust me for a long time, even though we were sleeping together again. And he probably used the other people as a way to keep emotionally distant from me. After he came back from being away, things changed. It became just us."

"That's good, isn't it?"

Ianto smiled. "Yeah, really good. I miss him, even though it hasn't been that long. We never actually talked about being exclusive, but that's what it's become, and we go on dates now, which is fun. Official dates, not let's see who we can pull to bring home dates."

"Sounds complicated."

"With Jack, everything's complicated, no matter which one I'm talking about. There are things about this Jack that I kind of want My Jack to have or do, but they're different people. I keep reminding myself of that. And when I get back to my own universe, well, I'll need to have been able to distinguish between them."

"That makes sense," Tosh murmured.

"This is kind of personal, but, with you, did Jack do that tongue thing? You know..." Ianto made a gesture. Tosh's eyes widened.

"I didn't know you could do that with guys!" she exclaimed.

"Um, yeah, you can. This Jack hasn't done it with me yet, but My Jack, well, let's just say..."

"Hey, kids! Comparing notes?" New Jack asked, appearing behind them. He draped an arm over each of their shoulders and kissed Ianto's cheek. "You're so cute when you blush!" He gave Tosh a kiss, too, just so she wouldn't feel left out.

"You're in a good mood, suddenly," Tosh said.

"Well, my Hub's clean, I have great coffee, a cute man to oggle, and a lead on a case that might keep Gwen busy the rest of the week." New Jack grinned. "So, let's celebrate!"

"Which case?" Ianto asked out of habit. New Jack didn't seem to mind, because he started telling them all about it. As he listened, Ianto realized it was something he recognized. "Eugene Jones," he said. "We dealt with that a year ago. He swallowed a Dogon Sixth Eye."

New Jack laughed. "Excellent. That will definitely take her a while to figure out. She's never been good at remembering details about artifacts."

"Except the sex toys," Tosh muttered under her breath.

"Yeah, well, um," New Jack hedged. "That would probably be my doing," he mumbled, sparing a glance at Ianto's face to see if he was angry. Ianto smiled and shrugged.

"Don't worry, I know all about them, too. You wouldn't have to teach me. I might even be able to show you a few tips…" he trailed off. New Jack had a glazed look on his face, and it didn't take a genius to guess that he was imagining using some of those artifacts with Ianto.

"In the meantime, have you figured out what happened to the me from this universe?" Ianto asked.

Tosh typed a few things into her PDA and an image of Ianto showed up on her screen. "He died at the Battle of Canary Wharf. One of the bodies that was recognized," she reported. "He was found with his girlfriend, both of them half-converted."

"Shit," Ianto breathed, closing his eyes and fighting sudden tears. If things were different, he never would have met Jack. He would have been dead two years, now. It suddenly hit him how far away from home he was, and he collapsed into a chair. "Shit," he repeated.

"Ianto?" New Jack asked, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"I have to get home," Ianto said. "I have to get back to him. I can't leave him alone," he continued. "How do I get home?"

"I've set up a Rift predictor program to give us warning when the same coordinates and energy show up," Tosh said. "It works about three days in advance, so it's not much warning, but it's something."

"Can I have access to it?" Ianto asked, looking up at New Jack. "I promise you can trust me."

"I have to think about it," New Jack answered. "I don't trust you, yet."

Ianto nodded sadly and watched the program over Tosh's shoulder. "It's only been three days and it feels like three weeks," he whispered. "Could time be moving at a different pace back in my world?" he asked New Jack in a louder voice.

"Could be," New Jack said. "I'd ask the Doctor, but he's not speaking to me. I can see if Martha can get ahold of him, but he might not be speaking to her, either."

"Whyever not?" Ianto demanded.

"He blamed us for the Master's death," New Jack said curtly. He turned and stalked away, shouting for Gwen. "Gwen, get to that kid's house! He might have some artifacts in his possession!" There was a few minutes of silence as they watched Gwen pack her pocketbook and kiss New Jack's cheek goodbye. He allowed the gesture, but didn't seem happy about it. "Owen, I want you to get ready to autopsy the kid when the body's deliverd. Tosh, set Ianto up with basic server access. Monitor everything he looks at. Ianto, don't fuck up this opportunity!" With that, New Jack grabbed his coat and left the Hub, a scowl on his face.

New Tosh retreated to her workstation and had an account set up for Ianto within minutes. He settled himself at a workstation and began arranging basic necessities, like food for Myfanwy and the other residents, which seemed to be an ad hoc kind of arrangement. He also set up accounts with a stationers and the local take away places Torchwood frequented, making sure to use a dummy company that was just sitting around in the budget doing nothing.

"Since when is access to the budget and credit cards basic access?" Ianto asked New Tosh.

"Since I trust you more than Jack does," she answered. "I've seen what you can do to organize things. We need that. And if you do something untrustworthy, well, I'm monitoring, like he said."

"I appreciate your trust and candor," Ianto said, smiling at her. "I'll endeavor to be worthy of it."

When New Jack returned with the body, Ianto watched with New Tosh as New Owen dissected it and found the Eye in the stomach. New Jack, by that time, had disappeared again, probably to brood on a tall building, Ianto thought, knowing how discussions of the Doctor effected His Jack. He wouldn't be surprised if they didn't see him for the rest of the day.

"I say we put the information on the servers and see how long it takes Gwen to find it," New Owen said, dropping the Eye into a specimen bag and grinning evilly..

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A/N: Quick question: Should time run at the same speed in both universes? I'm leaning towards no.


	11. Chapter 11

**Same Ianto, Different Jack - Chapter 11**

**by Gracefultree**

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Ianto fell asleep in the vaults next to Janet with a copy of _The Time Machine_ open on his chest. Normally a light sleeper, New Jack's boots on the floor of the corridor didn't even make him stir. It was a sign of his exhaustion, both mental and physical, over the last few days. And it's not like he'd been rested _before_ he jumped dimensions.

"What the fuck are you doing down here?" New Jack demanded loudly, angrily, startling Ianto awake.

Groaning, Ianto sat up, the book falling to the floor of the cell with a soft _thud_. He waved New Jack in through the open Perspex door. "I _was_ sleeping," Ianto informed him grumpily.

"But why down here?"

"Because this way I can wait for the Rift and have a better chance of getting home, since you won't let me have access to Tosh's program."

"That's ridiculous! She'd tell us if it was coming up," New Jack protested. "You could have slept in my bunker, or on the couch."

"Oh, like I'm going to go down to your bunker without you?" Ianto asked sarcastically. "When Gwen can look at the CCTV feeds and see me going there? I'm sick of her staring at me all day looking daggers in my back. I don't want to bring it on myself!"

He picked up his book and closed it. He'd read it before, so he didn't need to remember what page he was on.

"Besides, the access Tosh gave me doesn't let me change the CCTV on my own," he admitted, though he didn't add that he'd logged in as Owen earlier in the day when the team was out and set up a dummy account for himself that could do just that. New Jack was being remarkably trusting, for Jack Harkness, and he seemed to want to help Ianto, but Ianto also knew that he needed to keep his wits about him and have one, if not three, back-up plans for getting the information he needed if he was to get home to his own universe and His Jack. He might consider making a few more identities on the Torchwood Three servers, come to think of it.

"Oh," New Jack said, surprised, his anger deflating. "I thought you didn't want to be with me."

Ianto rolled his eyes before answering. "I always want to be with you, Jack. It might be tiny and cramped, but your bunker is a hell of a lot more comfortable than this cell." He slipped on his shoes. "And after the day we've both had, it would be nice to curl up together, don't you think?"

In answer, New Jack held out his hand and pulled Ianto to his feet. "Come on, then. I brought some food, too, for a late night snack."

"Chinese?"

"Curry," New Jack replied. "I saw that you added your own favorites to the take away orders and none of the others like curry, so I thought you'd like it for a change."

"Ah." They walked side by side, not touching because of the cameras, all the way to the main Hub. New Jack led him to his office, where Ianto found that his desk was free of the usual detritus and paperwork. In its place were two place settings, with take away containers and a pair of candles. A bottle of wine chilled in a bucket on the floor. "Is this a date?" he asked, a slight smile on his lips.

"Um, yeah, if you want it to be," New Jack said, moving to his usual chair and sitting. "I thought, maybe if I wined and dined you, you'd put out tonight." He gave Ianto one of his brightest smiles, using the candle-light to the best advantage to show off his eyes and teeth. Ianto took the opposite chair and started dishing out curry. New Jack, obligingly, poured the wine.

"I'm not sure one date is enough," Ianto teased, in a better mood now that New Jack was showing some appreciation.

"We almost did this morning," New Jack reminded him.

"Different circumstances," Ianto said, taking a bite of curry. "I was worried that you'd cried yourself to sleep the night before."

New Jack paused, his fork halfway to his mouth. "Are you being serious?" he demanded softly.

"I'm serious about being worried about you."

"But sex…"

"We don't know how long I'm going to be here," Ianto pointed out. "I don't want you hooked on something you'll never have again if the Rift takes me back. _When_ the Rift takes me back." He looked down at his plate, unsure where that thought came from. Two days ago, getting New Jack addicted to him was the plan. Something had changed, he was sure, though he couldn't pinpoint what it was, yet.

"Are you always this —"

"Pragmatic?" Ianto suggested.

"Infuriating! You're a cock-tease, that's what you are!"

"Have you made your choice? Will it be Gwen? Or me?"

"I can't just have both of you?"

"No, you can't. I won't share you with her. That's my condition," Ianto said firmly. "You're supposed to be getting married Saturday, yeah? It just turned Wednesday. That's three days, and change."

"What's gotten into you?" New Jack asked, putting down his fork. "You're different today. I mean, since I woke you up. Did something happen? Was it finding out about the you in this universe?"

Ianto closed his eyes and counted to ten before answering. This was what he feared would happen. New Jack, desperate for a real relationship, was putting all of that energy towards what was building with Ianto. And it felt wonderful! To have Jack, _any_ Jack, care enough to notice his bad mood within half an hour? It was a dream come true.

Sure, His Jack was getting better on picking up his signals, on reading between the lines, on figuring out what Ianto was thinking, but he'd never _ask_ anything like this. He might make some offhand comment letting Ianto know he knew something was up, or he might be extra gentle in bed, but he wouldn't _mention_ it. Unspoken, unlabeled, undefined, that was what he had with His Jack.

New Jack offered him so much more, and yet…

He couldn't abandon His Jack. He couldn't abandon his chance for happiness with him. He loved _His_ Jack, goddammit! He didn't care that they never talked about what they were doing.

Well, he didn't care until he met a Jack that _wanted _to have the conversations, that was emotionally both more open and more needy, yet strangely closed off and distant. Still traumatized by what happened with the Doctor, denied the solace of someone to talk to, if vaguely, as His Jack had talked to him, and denied the fragile friendship His Jack had with his Doctor because this New Doctor wasn't as forgiving as His Jack's Doctor.

And now…

Now he was being asked to choose!

Well, he felt like was being asked to choose, at least by himself… How could he love both of them? Be with both of them? Be _committed_ to both of them?

His Jack, his stubborn, inappropriate, sexy, wonderful Jack, who didn't know and couldn't admit that he loved Ianto, but did, _fiercely_, nonethesame… versus New Jack, also stubborn and inappropriate, and sexy, but _loving_, and able to _talk about feelings, _even if he couldn't choose between him and Gwen, a choice His Jack made long ago…

But New Jack was broken in a way His Jack was whole, in a way he'd helped His Jack heal. Could he heal another Jack? Was he strong enough to last through the nightmares and misplaced anger and the fear Jack never admitted to feeling, even though it was so thick in the room that they could both taste it?

How could he possibly choose? How could he abandon one for the other? They both needed him, damn it!

They both needed him…

"Hey, hey, it's OK," New Jack murmured, wrapping his arms around Ianto. "It's going to be OK."

Ianto clung to him and sobbed, aware of the irony that their roles had been reversed the night before and not caring because he was far too overwhelmed.

"We'll get you home. I promise you. OK? I'll get you home."

"God, Jack, I _hate_ this!" Ianto shouted through his tears. "I can't do this!"

"Yes, you can, darling," New Jack whispered, smoothing his hair and kissing his cheek and temple and forehead. "You're doing great. You hear me? You're doing great, and it'll work out in the end, OK?"

"You're not _him_," Ianto snarled, struggling against New Jack's hold. "You're not him! Get off me. Let me go."

"No, no, you don't want that," New Jack said, holding Ianto tighter. "Just let it out. Let it out, and we'll go to bed, and we'll be able to look at it all with fresh eyes in the morning, OK?" He gave Ianto a small shake. "OK?"

Ianto sniffled. "I guess."

"Good, now come to bed. I'll get a flannel to wash your face."

Ianto rubbed at his swollen eyes and followed New Jack down the ladder. He washed his face and got undressed to just his boxers and t-shirt and lay down with New Jack spooning him. He squeezed his eyes closed, hoping to hold off the tears, but more fell, wetting the pillow and New Jack's arm.

"Shh, it'll be all right, darling," New Jack said, continuing to caress Ianto softly and gently, and slightly tentatively. "It'll be all right."

With the comforting scent of _Jack's pheromones_ in his nostrils, and the low murmur of _Jack's voice_ in his ears, and the strength of _Jack's arms _holding him in the dark, Ianto managed to pretend he was home so he could find sleep again.


	12. Chapter 12

**Same Ianto, Different Jack**

**Chapter 12**

**by Gracefultree**

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Ianto woke in New Jack's bunker, alone. He sighed. Trust New Jack to leave him alone after the emotional night before. His Jack wouldn't have… but His Jack wasn't here, and even though His Jack wouldn't have left him alone, he also wouldn't have talked about Ianto's episode the night before, preferring a quick tumble in the sheets or a fuck in the shower to displace the expressed emotions into the easier to define feelings of physical pleasure they both knew they could get from each other.

After a shower and change of clothes, Ianto climbed the ladder to New Jack's office. It was empty. On top of New Jack's blotter was a metal box the same size as the ones Gwen's boots came in. A card with '_for Ianto' _in New Jack's handwriting sat propped up against it. Opening the box (and noting the Torchwood symbol stenciled across its top) Ianto found a stack of papers.

First was a real note from New Jack.

_I've considered your proposed job here at Torchwood. Pass a firearms test and I'll give you a three-month trial period, should you be here that long. In the meantime, sign the contract. — CJH_

Ianto smiled, glancing through the contract. New Jack had followed Ianto's list of duties he would and would not perform to the letter, though the ominous '_and other duties as required by the Director_' sang out in black and white. Still, Ianto couldn't complain, since it was a standard Torchwood procedure to include the phrase. And the pay packet was larger than the one he was used to, which didn't hurt.

There were government documents declaring him alive, stating that it was just a bureaucratic mistake he was declared dead after the Battle of Canary Wharf. There were bank statements, notices of back pay, hazard pay, compensation for surviving the Battle and investment accounts in his name. Ianto, in this universe, had become a rich man, without a flat to support and suits to replace every other week.

The box also contained a Torchwood ID and swipecard, a regular government driver's license, a pair of credit cards, one personal and one for Torchwood, a standard Torchwood stun gun, and a mobile phone/PDA combo that had New Tosh's software fingerprints all over it.

He powered on the phone. New Jack had set a picture of himself shirtless as Ianto's wallpaper. He snickered and changed the picture to one of the standard ones that came with the phone, though he saved the picture of New Jack to look at later.

He went to a workstation and logged in. His email pinged, indicating New Tosh left him a message.

_All your access codes have been activated officially. It seems the modifications I did yesterday *were* what Jack meant by basic access. _

"Ah, Tosh," he said with a sigh. "You do know your stuff, don't you?" he murmured to himself. He went about sorting breakfast, since the Hub was completely empty.

Empty…

"Where's Myfanwy?" Ianto wondered aloud. He did a quick search of the main Hub before climbing to the aerie. It wasn't there. No nest, no dinosaur droppings, no Myfanwy. No evidence that she'd ever been there. He fell to his knees and fought for breath, feeling a panic attack coming on.

No Myfanwy! He'd ordered food for her just yesterday, even the chocolate. It was such a habit back in his universe that he did it by rote while he ordered the Weevil food. Shit, did that mean she'd been on her own this whole time? Because he hadn't been there to catch her with New Jack she'd been free to eat sheep and maybe get killed by some well-meaning shepherd? The walls started to close in around him.

"Myfanwy!" he shouted, calling for her. "Myfanwy!"

"Easy, mate," New Owen said, grabbing his upper arms. Ianto hadn't heard him climbing the ladder. "Take some deep breaths, OK? You need to calm down. You don't want me to have to sedate you, do you?"

Blinded by tears, Ianto shook his head and tried to do what New Owen said. Slowly, he managed to get his breath back. They waited a few more minutes as he calmed down.

"You get panic attacks a lot?" New Owen asked kindly. It was a strange tone of voice for him, but Ianto reminded himself that to New Owen, he was a virtual stranger. A crying, hyperventilating stranger. A stranger who knew things about his life. A stranger that New Jack just hired and was probably looking to shag.

"Not usually," Ianto said. "I had some after the Battle, but they've cleared up. Jack, he, he helped."

"You had one yesterday, Jack said. He called me about it. He's worried about you."

"I'm in a different universe than my own, with friends who don't know me and a lover who's supposed to marry someone else in a few days. Can you blame me?" Ianto asked.

New Owen grunted. He gave Ianto some tissues so he could wipe his face and led the way back down the the Hub where New Tosh and New Gwen were standing by Tosh's station.

"Where's Jack?" New Gwen demanded, as soon as Ianto was on their level. She glared at him accusingly.

"He's not in the Hub," New Tosh said for Ianto. "I checked. He's on one of his buildings. He's been there for hours."

"So he sent us out on that retrieval and left? He left this guy alone in our base? That's against protocol!"

Ianto flashed his Torchwood ID. "Actually, I'm staff now, too." He crossed his arms over his chest as he returned her heated look. Still slightly shaky from his panic attack, he hoped that the tremors in his muscles didn't show as much as he felt they would. He'd need a coffee, if he was going to survive the adrenaline crash and continue to send barbs in her direction. Something told him they would be much more pointed now, rather than the ones with His Gwen where he could be subtle, his relationship with His Jack secure, if undefined. "Jack hired me. I've signed the contract."

"What!" New Gwen shrieked. "How dare he do something like that without consulting me?"

"He's the boss," New Owen said. "Now I've got an alien to dissect." He pushed away from the others, moving towards the autopsy bay in his careful undead way.

"Right," New Tosh added. "Ianto, I'll show you our security protocols," she offered, indicating for him to sit next to her at her station. New Gwen stalked away, already pulling out her mobile to call New Jack.

"Thanks," Ianto whispered as he took his seat.

"No problem. She's been a real bitch since this morning."

"Jack must not have gone home again," Ianto mused.

"No, he's been on one of his roofs for the last eight hours."

"He's brooding, then," Ianto commented.

"Are you OK? You look a little pale. I mean, paler than usual. Oh, I mean — not that you're usually pale, or anything, but —"

"It's OK, Tosh. I had a rough night, and Owen just saved me from my second panic attack in twelve hours." He sighed and rubbed his eyes. "I just found out that you never caught Myfanwy."

"Who's Myfanwy?"

"Our pet pteradon."

"Oh. Wow!"

"Yeah. Can you check to see if there are reports of missing sheep in the countryside, or missing house pets? She might still be alive, in this universe, just not captured."

"I'll look."

"Thanks. Do you think Jack would be upset if I left the base? I want to get some more clothes. The style he bought for me isn't quite my own," he explained, tugging at the red hoodie.

"I'll cover for you if he asks."

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Ianto returned from the tailor's shop three hours later, with a receipt for a dozen bespoke suits to be completed within the month and several off the rack versions that had been quickly altered for his body. It felt good to be in a suit again, like he was more himself. He smiled as he made coffee, handing out cups to New Tosh and New Gwen. If he was going to live in this new universe, he figured, he was going to make the best of it and look good. He had the money. He hadn't had to spend nearly all of it on getting Tanizaki to Cardiff to look at the Cyberman that had taken over Lisa's body.

New Tosh thanked him and New Gwen spit in her mug before dumping it out. Ianto ignored her, deciding that he could live without having to make hers anymore. Standing in the main Hub, he looked to Jack's office, a tray with two cups still in his hand. New Jack still hadn't returned.

Ianto went out again, this time for more necessities, food, and bath products he'd need if he was going to live in the Hub, as seemed likely. He certainly wouldn't get a flat, if that meant he'd miss a chance to get home. He bought a new diary, and spent an hour in a cafe writing, copying from memory the entry he'd penned earlier and hidden in his cell before adding new material.

After everyone left, with New Jack still missing, Ianto logged in as Owen again and accessed Tosh's Rift predictor program. He found the readings for his arrival and memorized them as best as he could. He set up warnings and flags and reminders to go to his PDA in the event of the predictions matching the old readings with an 85% or greater accuracy. Logging out, he logged in as himself and looked through the email from Tosh about Myfanwy. Nothing conclusive, she said, but she'd keep looking.

When midnight arrived and still no sign of New Jack, Ianto retreated to the bunker to try to sleep, since he hadn't picked out a room for himself, and New Jack seemed to want him in his space, at least for now. He didn't relish the idea of going back to the cell to sleep, and New Jack's anger the night before wasn't something he wanted to risk again. There, surrounded by Jack's scent, he closed his eyes and imagined he was home. As he added details to his fantasy, it didn't take long for his body to respond to the smell and location. He stroked himself to a quick completion before rolling over to sleep, Jack's name on his lips.

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Thursday came, and still no sign of New Jack. New Tosh reported that he'd moved to a different building, but that was all. New Gwen continued using Torchwood time to finish planning the wedding, and Ianto had to listen to her loudly talking to her girlfriends about Friday's planned hen night. New Owen bestirred himself to give Ianto the weapons overview and accuracy test, which Ianto passed with flying colors. He was a bit disappointed that New Jack hadn't been there to give him 'pointers.'

Then again, if the shooting range was where New Jack first seduced New Gwen, maybe Ianto didn't want to be there with New Jack after all.

Ianto spent the day coordinating from the Hub while the rest of the team went out on calls. With New Jack still missing and not answering either his mobile or comms, it took longer then it should have. New Tosh and New Owen, by this point, had accommodated Ianto into their mental maps of Torchwood and were treating him like a team member and sort-of friend. New Gwen, on the other hand, ignored him when she wasn't glaring at him.

Ianto didn't sleep much that night, preferring to wander the Hub. His feet brought him to the old storage room where he'd kept Lisa for all those months, though it was clear this room hadn't been used in at least ten years, if the faded yellow newspaper was to be believed. He sat down in the pile of dust, for once not caring about his clothing. He leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes, remembering that horrible time and all that he'd had to do to keep His Jack unaware of Lisa and Ianto's subterfuge.

_God, I was so scared, those first few times I let him fuck me,_ Ianto thought. _But he took care, in his off-handed way, and I got through it. By the time they found Lisa, I liked it, liked him. I was so conflicted, wanting him, needing her, not being honest to either of them. It was a bit of a relief when she was gone. Now I'm stuck in another mess, only this one is even __more_ _fucked-up, if that's possible. _

New Jack, it seemed, trusted Ianto from the first, in part because of his knowledge of His Jack. In part, Ianto thought with a modicum of alarm, because New Gwen didn't treat him very well and he was starved for affection and a lover who was good to him.

The sound of his mobile ringing startled him out of a light doze and he answered sleepily.

"Hey, handsome, where are you?" New Jack asked, his words slightly slurred.

"I'm at the Hub," Ianto answered. "Have you been drinking?"

"Yeah. You should come over here, there are lots of really nice people!" In the background, Ianto could hear the sounds of a lively club, bass thrumming, women and men laughing and flirting.

"Hey, sugar," a female voice said near New Jack's ear, and thus, the phone. "Tell him the first drink's on me if he's handsome enough."

"Oh, he's handsome enough," New Jack enthused. "Best looking man I've seen in a long time. He's even into threesomes! You hear that, Ianto? Free drinks! And Sheila's really cute! You'll love her."

Ianto sighed in disgust. "No, Jack. I'll stay here, thank you very much."

"Woah, woah, what's wrong?"

"I am _not _going drinking with you to pick up women!" Ianto snarled. "I've had enough of that with my Jack. Either you go have your night out and enjoy yourself, _by yourself_, or come back here and sober up if you want to see me."

"But — but —"

"No buts, Jack. You know where to find me if you change your mind."

"Sugar, your boyfriend doesn't sound as into this as you said he'd be," Sheila cooed into New Jack's ear.

Ianto scowled and hung up. How dare New Jack call Ianto his boyfriend to some slut he met at a bar? How dare he go drinking after being gone for two days, leaving the rest of them to muddle by on their own? Ianto made his way back to his cell, deciding that he'd be better off there, with New Jack in the mood he was in. He didn't want to get involved in whatever New Jack was plotting.

Forty-five minutes later, a very drunk New Jack stumbled into Ianto's cell. Ianto woke to New Jack's lips on his cheek and New Jack's hands tugging at his pajamas. Ianto rolled over, drew the blanket over his head, and attempted to ignore him. It didn't work for very long. Soon a completely naked New Jack pulled Ianto off the slab that doubled as his bed and curled himself around Ianto on the floor.

Ianto grunted and freed himself from the blanket and New Jack's embrace. He carefully put the blanket around New Jack. "Sleep it off and we can talk in the morning, yeah? I'm not staying down here."

"But, Ianto —"

"Sleep," Ianto repeated, kissing New Jack's temple. "We'll talk in the morning." He trudged down the halls to the main Hub where he lay back on the ratty couch. Wouldn't be the first time he'd slept there.

Wouldn't be the first time Jack Harkness did something monumentally stupid, either.


	13. Chapter 13

**Same Ianto, Different Jack**

**Chapter 13**

**by gracefultree**

A/N: Sorry for the wait between chapters. Real life has a way of taking over. Rest assured that I also have a (rather long) chapter of 'Waking to Live' almost finished, as well as one of 'I'anto of Torchwood Weyr', which I hope to post later this week. Next week at the latest. Why didn't anyone tell me it was so hard to have so many stories going at once? *wink*

For now, enjoy this! As always, if you like it, let me know. ;-)

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Ianto couldn't sleep. He tossed and turned on the couch, unable to find a comfortable position. He was angry with New Jack for the phone call and incident in the cell earlier, furious, actually, and yet… New Jack wasn't His Jack, and maybe he shouldn't be mad at New Jack for His Jack's past actions and the feelings they brought up in him.

Ianto sighed. If he really thought about it, he was sad for New Jack. In some ways, Ianto's arrival was the wake-up call he needed. In others, it was a disruption in a life that seemed to be going all right. On the surface, anyway. New Jack was clear that he wasn't happy with New Gwen, that he was just biding his time until she died or grew tired of him. Perhaps the Doctor in this universe hurt New Jack more than His Jack's Doctor did? It seemed that way, if they weren't even on speaking terms anymore.

And it wasn't like New Jack had any kind of relationship, defined or otherwise, with Ianto. Who was Ianto to get mad at him for a single drunken phone call?

Deciding that it was better to keep himself busy when he couldn't sleep or figure out his own emotions easily, Ianto got up and showered in the communal bathroom before getting into one of his new suits. He went with a red shirt and tie, knowing he looked good. At least that hadn't changed in the new universe, he thought. The lighting was the same. He made coffee and settled down at New Tosh's station to do some server maintenance, among other less official activities.

By the time New Jack stumbled into the main Hub from the cells, Ianto was back on the sofa, nursing his third cup of coffee. He'd learned enough in his internet explorations to give him even more to think about, and he had no idea what he was supposed to do with the information. In his own universe... Well, he wasn't even sure what he'd do _there_, since he'd been clear with New Jack that he'd covered up His Gwen's indiscretions when His Jack asked him to...

But these were _New_ Gwen's indiscretions... and they had the potential to hurt New Jack far more than His Gwen's had ever been able to hurt His Jack...

They looked at each other in silence. Ianto noticed the dark circles under New Jack's eyes and the tightness of his smile. His clothes were wrinkled, and, if Ianto was any judge, he was hung over. And miserable. Ianto didn't care.

No, he pretended he didn't care. He grumbled and moaned and spoke harshly, but he did care, deep down. Or not so deep down, he reminded himself. There was a difference between not caring and pretending not to, and he growled at himself for resorting to such measures so soon in his association with the man. It wasn't as if New Jack could tell the difference... It wasn't as if New Jack would recognize it as disapproval rather than anger and grovel his way back into Ianto's good graces, the way His Jack would have done when presented with the same scenario and tone of voice.

"There's a bottle of water and some paracetamol on your desk," he informed New Jack curtly, setting his mug down and walking away before New Jack could say anything. Before he, himself, could fully analyze his reactions and decide which Jack he was talking to. God, it was so confusing!

He watched from the kitchen area as New Jack processed that information and slowly walked over to his office, a frown on his face. He looked to be falling into one of his self-loathing moods where he felt responsible for every bad thing that happened to the Earth since he arrived there back in 1869.

Ianto remembered a time when he'd come upon His Jack with a similar expression on his face. It was the night before His Jack released young Jasmine to the fairies, the night his ex-lover Estelle Cole died.

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_Ianto approached Jack hesitantly, a mug of coffee in each hand, despite the late hour. Neither of them ever refused coffee, and it would provide a prop so that he could speak to Jack about something other than work. He'd only been back from his suspension one day, and he rather doubted that Jack would welcome his presence without a prop to give them both the ability to pretend they didn't care about each other after the disaster that was the Cyberwoman attack and Ianto's betrayal. _

_Jack didn't look up from the photograph of a young Estelle and Captain Jack he was staring at, nor did he acknowledge Ianto in any way. Ianto put the mug in front of him and moved aside the empty scotch glass before resting his hip against Jack's desk and sipping his own coffee. _

_Jack glanced up. _

"_You shouldn't be here," he muttered, repeating what he'd said the night before. _

"_Neither should you," Ianto replied. "Come back to mine. You can have the bed. It looks like you need a good sleep tonight, and your cot's too small for that." _

_Jack sighed, resigned to Ianto being there with him. "I'm not kicking you out of your own bed," he said, closing his eyes at the one good memory of being in Ianto's flat, two weeks before the betrayal, when Ianto had decided it was time to explore the benefits of sex with Jack on a real bed, instead of the camp bed in his bunker or one of the desks/chairs/walls/floors/tables of the Hub.  
_

"_Who said I'd be somewhere else?" Ianto asked with a faux-innocent expression on his face, the first real flirtation he'd allowed himself with Jack since he returned. Jack's expression darkened to a scowl. "Look, Jack, you need comfort tonight, and while I'm not going to offer my body -" _

_Jack snorted, scowling even more, the warm memories of Ianto seducing him warring with the knowledge that he did it to keep him from finding out about the Cyberman in his basement suddenly in front of his eyes. _

"_- I want to help you," Ianto finished. He laid a (mostly) platonic hand on Jack's shoulder. _

"_Maybe it's your body I want," Jack suggested with a halfhearted leer. It was Ianto's turn to frown.  
_

"_Try that again when you're not so depressed and I might consider it," Ianto responded. "For now, drink your coffee and let's go. I can tell as well as you that neither of us are up for sex tonight." _

_Jack turned back to the picture in his hand and sighed sadly. "I'm not a good man, Ianto," Jack finally said after a long few minutes of silence. "I loved her, and yet I hurt her."_

_Ianto remained silent, waiting. He studiously did not think about Lisa, or, even more so, his conflicted feelings about Jack and how Jack had hurt_ _him while professing to care about him, at least during the heat of a passionate embrace or two_._ Or three. Or twenty.  
_

"_We once promised each other we'd be together until we died," Jack scoffed. "As if I could even make that kind of promise." _

"_Did you know about yourself back then?" Ianto asked, curious. He'd never alluded that he knew about Jack's secret immortality before, but, somehow, this seemed like a safe way to discuss it. Jack didn't react to his question, confirming Ianto's suspicion that Jack already assumed he knew about it and was keeping it quiet, like the good archivist and secret-keeper he was. He'd never commented about the two separate puddles of blood the day Suzie killed herself, and Jack hadn't mentioned it, so it was yet another unspoken thing between them, along with the fact that they'd probably end up in bed again at some point, though not quite yet and for very different reasons than the first time around. Ianto didn't think either of them doubted they'd take solace from each other's company and bodies again, and it didn't seen like Jack disagreed, if his comments from the moment before were any indication.  
_

"_I knew. And I knew even as I said it that it was a lie for me. But she held on to that promise for a very long time. It was twenty years before she took another lover, and she never loved him like she loved me. Even now, she loved me." He paused. "And it got her killed." _

"_No," Ianto protested. "She wanted more from the fairies or whatever you call them than they were willing to give." _

"_But she died because of me!" Jack declared, and Ianto saw into Jack's soul for a brief moment, and the depths of guilt and grief and loneliness he hid close to his chest so often. "Everyone I love dies, and it's my fault," Jack continued. He pulled out another picture, this one of him sitting in a chair in a formal suit, with a beautiful woman in a wedding dress standing next to him, her hand on his shoulder. "I promised her fidelity, too," Jack whispered. "And ten months later I was fucking her sister while she was in labor with our son!" _

_Ianto started, not at the words or the admission, that level of sexuality he expected from Jack, but at the self-hatred in Jack's voice. He chose his next words very carefully, knowing he was stepping over a line that he wasn't sure Jack would allow him to cross, given the broken trust between them. Still, Jack needed something now, and Ianto would do his best to give it. Meanwhile, Jack finished his story in a broken voice. _

"_She died in childbirth, our son coming feet-first and strangled by the umbilical cord. Her sister killed herself two weeks later, undone by guilt, feeling that it was our transgression that killed them both." _

_Ianto took a breath, then changed what he had been about to ask. "Would it have been a transgression, in your time?" _

_Jack looked up at him sharply. Ianto merely raised an eyebrow in challenge. Another unspoken thing coming to the light this evening. More secrets coming out. It was a measure of how much Jack still trusted Ianto that he was even willing to have the conversation, let alone volunteer information about himself like he was doing.  
_

"_No," Jack finally answered, turning away again. He gulped at his coffee. "But I'm not in my time now, and I wasn't then. I can't act like I am. Doing that just causes problems." _

"_And not being yourself causes just as many, I'd wager, though of the more personal kind," Ianto murmured. "Come on." He extended a hand to Jack, who looked him up and down before shaking his head. _

"_I'll see you in the morning, Ianto. But thank you for the offer. I'll be sure to take you up on it sometime."_

"_You're welcome, sir," Ianto replied, accepting the dismissal. And the promise. Soon, they'd find each other again. Little did either of them know it would be the following week, after a brush with cannibals.  
_

_In the morning, Ianto arrived at the Hub to find Jack still smelling of his overnight conquest(s). With a shake of his head and a sigh that they weren't ready to help each other properly, he gathered up Jack's laundry and went about the day, knowing that if he'd offered sex, Jack might have accepted. He wasn't ready, yet, though the brief stab of jealousy towards the nameless one(s) from the night before told him he was closer than he might like to think he was. _

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New Jack looked so miserable, so similar to His Jack that night, that Ianto took pity on him and brought him coffee and toast. Maybe it wasn't the world's issues that had him down, Ianto thought. Maybe it was about timing, about relationships and social interactions that were so natural to him in his own time and so backwards here? Maybe he needed to give New Jack more credit for thought than he'd been showing lately? Maybe that's why New Jack had disappeared for two days, to think? Maybe in his time, marrying one person and sleeping with another wasn't a problem at all, though now it definitely was.

As he was leaving New Jack's office, he heard New Jack sigh.

"Why are you doing this?" New Jack asked, gesturing to the breakfast sitting atop the organized desk, complete with little notes from Ianto about what to sign and a summary of what the team had done for the past two days. "I don't deserve this kind of attention. I'm doing everything I can to push you away."

"Do you want me to leave?" Ianto asked quietly. New Jack's answer would determine so many things, he thought, even as New Jack answered immediately.

"No!"

"That's why I do it."

When the silence became too much, Ianto turned and walked away. He'd reached the doorway when New Jack spoke, his voice so soft that Ianto wasn't sure he'd heard him correctly.

"I made my decision," New Jack whispered. "But I doubt it matters anymore. I seem to have a way of fucking everything up just as I figure out what I want."

"What did you decide?" Ianto asked, settling his hip against New Jack's desk in the same place he'd leaned when His Jack admitted, in a roundabout way, that he loved Ianto.

New Jack smiled nervously. "I can't marry Gwen."

Ianto nodded, expecting this.

"I -" New Jack stopped. "What you offered me..."

"Is still on the table," Ianto said, his decision made. Again. The same decision he would make and would probably be making for the rest of his life, no matter how many Jacks he met, no matter how many universes he found himself in. "We just have to do a bit of re-negotiating. I don't like being woken up like that."

New Jack gaped at him, his mouth hanging open in surprise. "You'd consider it even after last night?"

Ianto sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Last night I reacted to you because of what _he's _done in the past. It's not fair of me to hold you responsible for his actions. I'm sorry."

"So, you're not writing me off because of it?" New Jack clarified, the vulnerability in his voice almost breaking Ianto's heart.

"No," Ianto said softly. "I'm not writing you off." He accepted the hand that New Jack extended. He kissed New Jack's fingers. "But you have to tell Gwen before we do anything more than a kiss or two."

"Of course," New Jack affirmed. He stood, stepping close to Ianto. He clutched Ianto's hand tighter as he raised the other to run his fingers along Ianto's jaw. "You're gorgeous, you know."

Ianto closed his eyes, a pain constricting his chest. "That's what he always says."

"I'll have to find a different word, won't I?" Ianto opened his eyes again and nodded, sequestering the pain away to deal with later. "What about beautiful?"

"Too girly."

"Breathtaking?"

"Can't be a nickname."

"Lovely?"

"It'll do for now," Ianto murmured, leaning forward to kiss New Jack with a hint of longing and just enough passion to wet his appetite but not so much that it would distract New Jack from the necessity of talking to New Gwen. He could wait, after all. New Jack had chosen _him_.

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tbc


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